Report names Israel’s most polluted rivers

An Israeli environmental protection group released a list of the country’s most polluted rivers. According to Zalul’s list, issued Friday in advance of Earth Day on April 22, the Lachish River, which runs between Ashdod and Ashkelon and flows into the Mediterranean Sea, is Israel’s most polluted. Though most of the river is dry, what remains is primarily sewage and runoff from nearby factories and municipal waste management plants that have left bacteria and chemical levels in the river well above legal levels, the report said. The Hadera River, near Caesarea, has been affected by wastewater treatment plant sewage, industrial pollution and contamination from the Palestinian territories, the group claims. Others on the list included the Ayalon River near Tel Aviv, the Bsor River in the Beersheba region and the Yarkon River, which runs along Ramat Gan, B’nei Brak and Tel Aviv. Sixteen major rivers flow to the Mediterranean and 24 to the Jordan River, Lake Kinneret and the Dead Sea, and most are polluted, Zalul said.