The Jerusalem Report

Digging for truth: West Bank digs reignite debate over land and history

As Israel expands excavations in the West Bank, ancient ruins become entangled in a modern political struggle over land, history, and identity

Workers and volunteers on an archaeological dig sift through dirt at Alexandrion/Sartaba in the Jordan Valley.

Israel's Heritage Minister: Palestinians destroying archaeological sites like ISIS did in Syria

Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu plants a flag at the archaeological site Sartaba in Judea and Samaria.

The 40-kilometer chokepoint holding the world economy hostage - analysis

The Strait of Hormuz, the only sea passage from the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean, making it essential for international energy.

Israel's antiquities watchdog tracks stolen history from Jerusalem dealers to US museums

Visitors to the Israel Antiquities Authority’s new center in Jerusalem look at items such as jewelery, makeup brushes, and weapons that had been stolen by antiquities thieves.

Environmental cooperation emerges as cornerstone for Middle East peace, experts say

Shared environmental needs could succeed in creating stability in the Middle East, experts say

JANUARY 27, 2026BySTEPHANIE L. FREID

An aerial view of the Jordan River flowing along the border between Israel and Jordan. Environmental experts are pushing for a plan that could build environmentally sustainable interdependence among countries in the region.

Israel's overlooked challenge: Environmental damage from two years of war - from the editor

As the war winds down, Israel faces a quieter crisis – environmental damage from Gaza to the Dead Sea, alongside long-neglected ecological failures now demanding urgent attention

JANUARY 27, 2026ByRUTH MARKS EGLASH

Visitors walk across salt formations along the receding shoreline of the Dead Sea, a stark sign of the region’s growing environmental crisis.

Seeing sinkholes: How the Dead Sea’s collapse became a tourist draw

How one of the region’s worst environmental disasters has become a popular tourist excursion

JANUARY 27, 2026ByRUTH MARKS EGLASH

Hikers trek past a cavernous sinkhole on the shores of the Dead Sea near Ein Gedi.

The land still burns: Israel’s damaged forests face long road to recovery after war

After two years of war, Israel is counting the environmental costs – from blackened forests in the North to degraded soil in the South

JANUARY 27, 2026BySAM HALPERN

An employee of Israel’s Nature and Parks Authority inspects a burnt tree following a rocket attack from bordering Lebanon, at the Tel Dan nature reserve in northern Israel in November 2024.

Gaza facing environmental catastrophe as 60 million tons of toxic war debris buried under rubble

As Gazans struggle to recover from the war – trash, sewage, and toxic debris are creating an environmental catastrophe

JANUARY 27, 2026ByDANA BEN-SHIMON

A man searches through piles of garbage in Gaza City.

Israel’s freshwater balancing act: The Kinneret under strain

Intensive management has saved the Kinneret from crisis, but rising salinity and ecological change pose growing risks

JANUARY 27, 2026BySAM HALPERN

An aerial view of the Kinneret. To the casual observer, the lake, also known as the Sea of Galilee, appears to be a rare environmental success story in an era of climate uncertainty.

'Pollution without borders': Gaza sewage flows north, contaminating Israeli waters

The collapse of the sewage infrastructure in Gaza is not just a local humanitarian crisis but an environmental threat to Israel and beyond

JANUARY 27, 2026ByPATRICIA GOLAN

Tents sheltering displaced Palestinians in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

Israel’s infrastructure paradox: Innovation without environmental foundations - opinion

Israel’s greatest environmental challenge is being a highly developed, innovative country with key infrastructure missing

JANUARY 27, 2026ByGALIT COHEN

Gaps in Israel’s grid capacity, public transport systems, waste treatment facilities, and regulatory frameworks mean that many innovations to improve the environment cannot be deployed at a meaningful scale.

Israel’s untapped power: Sun, water, and true energy security - opinion

Israel’s foolhardy hyper-dependence on expensive, vulnerable, and explosive gas rigs will be the subject of a state commission of inquiry.

JANUARY 27, 2026ByYOSEF I. ABRAMOWITZ

Former president Shimon Peres challenged the writer (pictured left) to power the Arava using 100% solar energy.

Inside Israel's media war: Who shapes the narrative now?

As Israel moves to overhaul its media system, journalists, lawmakers, and critics clash over power, press freedom, and the future of Israeli democracy

JANUARY 13, 2026ByRUTH MARKS EGLASH