Landmines in Israel

Landmines in Israel have been a problem since the 1950s and 1960s. Campaigns to clear the landmines, led by a coalition of civil-society organizations, mine-affected communities and land mine survivors, operated from 2009 to 2011, until the Knesset passed the Minefield Clearance Act.[1] According to this law, the Israel Mine Action Authority was established and began clearing minefields in 2012.

History

More than 1.5 million[2] land mines laid during the 1950s and 1960s contaminate a combined area of 50,000 acres in the Golan Heights, in the Arava Valley and along the Jordan River.[3] This includes more than 300,000 land mines contaminating 5,000 acres of agricultural and residential land in the West Bank, with unexploded ordnance further making sites inaccessible.[4] A State Comptroller audit conducted in the late 1990s found that hundreds of minefields no longer contributed to Israel's security and that no government agency had presented a plan to clear them.[5]

Legislation

Three unsuccessful attempts to offer a legal solution to the land mine problem were proposed in the early 2000s.[6][7][8] In 2009, Jerry White, an American who survived a mine incident in the Golan Heights, drafted a call to action and a legal framework for humanitarian demining in Israel.[9] In February 2010, 11-year-old Israeli boy Daniel Yuval lost his leg to land mine while walking in the snow in the Golan Heights. Following this incident, Daniel joined the Mine-Free Israel and petitioned the Prime Minister and Members of Knesset to support the draft bill.[10] The campaign secured the support of 73 Members of Knesset, as well as the Government, and became a law on March 14, 2011.[11]

Demining

Following the adoption of the bill, the State of Israel established its National Mine Action Authority, which began work in the Arava Valley in 2012.[12] In 2013, demining activity continued in the Arava and spread to the West Bank and the Golan Heights.[13]

References

  1. ↑ Knesset 2011.
  2. ↑ Hashmonai 2010.
  3. ↑ AP 2011.
  4. ↑ Peper 2011.
  5. ↑ White 2010, p. xviii
  6. ↑ Knesset 2002.
  7. ↑ Knesset 2003.
  8. ↑ Knesset 2004.
  9. ↑ Sobelman 2010.
  10. ↑ Bronner 2010.
  11. ↑ Lev 2011.
  12. ↑ Rinat 2012.
  13. ↑ INMAA 2013
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