The Ministry of Environmental Protection is marking two decades of the Clean Coast Program with a public awareness campaign that urges the public to continue visiting the beaches with reusable containers and to leave a clean beach.
Idit Silman, Minister of Environmental Protection: “The Ministry of Environmental Protection and the local and regional authorities are proudly marking 20 years of the Clean Coast Program, which has brought about improved cleanliness, collaborations, budgets, and most importantly – a cultural change. Because you don’t clean a beach – you just keep it clean. The Ministry’s new campaign holds up a humorous yet sharp mirror to the public with one clear message: beach cleanliness is the responsibility of us all. Thanks to the program, the coastal authorities, and the public, Israel‘s beaches are cleaner today and are being better preserved for future generations”.
Fred Arzoine, Director of the National Unit for Marine Environmental Protection at the Ministry of Environmental Protection: “The Clean Coast Program is an example of the advantage of collaborations between the Ministry and coastal authorities, NGOs, and the public. We set a clear goal, and with a great deal of effort from the Marine Unit and many partners, we achieved significant results. However, it is important for the public to understand the harm caused by using single-use plastic utensils, which are harmful to both humans and the marine environment”.
For two decades, the Ministry of Environmental Protection’s Clean Coast Program has promoted cleanliness on open beaches along 157 km in the Mediterranean Sea and the Gulf of Eilat. To mark the program’s 20th anniversary, the Ministry is launching a public awareness campaign that urges the public to continue visiting the beaches with reusable containers, to take personal responsibility, and to leave a clean beach.
The campaign serves as a reminder to us all: every waste item left on the beach harms not only the scenery and the experience but also marine animals, public health, and the entire marine environment. The campaign’s goal is to raise awareness of the importance of keeping beaches clean and to call on the public to take a simple action: to arrive with reusable containers and to collect the waste they brought to the beach.
The program – with a total budget of 14 million ₪ from the Ministry of Environmental Protection – includes funding for the cleanup of open beaches, support for increased enforcement, underwater cleanup conducted by a network of volunteers, a public awareness campaign, and monitoring of the sea and beaches.
The public awareness campaign is being carried out through LAPAM (the Government Advertising Agency) and will be launched for the general public on television, radio, digital platforms, and social media. It is also being tailored to the Haredi community, the Arab community, and the Russian-speaking public. The campaign will be accompanied by field operations and collaborations with coastal authorities.
20 Years of the Clean Coast Program
The Clean Coast Program is a national action plan to address the problem of marine litter in Israel and is derived from the requirements of the Barcelona Convention. Now in its 20th year, the program aims to minimize the amount of coastal waste in Israel and strive for the cleanliness of the beaches and the sea in relation to a clear environmental outcome metric – all in accordance with international commitment for the benefit of the environment and the public in Israel. The program was conceived and designed according to a “problem pattern solution” methodology, which addresses recurring problems with an emphasis on a measurable, outcome-driven solution.
In the 2024 summary (Hebrew), the Clean Coast Index data showed that 86.36% of the beaches were rated clean or very clean for at least 70% of the year, compared to just 19.7% of the beaches in 2005 when the program was launched.This is the fourth consecutive time since the program’s inception that more than 70% of the beaches have been clean 85% of the time, as defined in the program’s goals. The activities of the Clean Coast Program, with all its various components, have led to an unprecedented improvement in the cleanliness of open beaches throughout the year. The program continues to prove its effectiveness even during challenging times, showing a 56% improvement from 2016 to date.
A key component of the Clean Coast Program, and the majority of its budget, is allocated to supporting coastal authorities in the cleanup of open beaches within their jurisdiction. To address the environmental problem of marine litter in Israel, the program defines clear outcome goals for the cleanliness of open beaches: 70% of the beaches are clean 85% of the time. Within this framework, inspectors from the Ministry’s National Unit for Marine Environmental Protection measure the cleanliness level on open beaches while providing ongoing notifications to coastal authorities for monitoring and corrective actions for the continuous improvement of beach cleanliness.
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