The Knesset's subcommittee for Judea and Samaria discussed this morning the impending establishment of a waste disposal site near the Rimonim community in Samaria funded by the government of Germany.
The discussion came in the wake of public outcry against the project due to fact that the waste facilities are to be built in Area C - under full Israeli control, but are to serve only Arab residents of the area.
Chairman of the Committee Moti Yogev said during the discussion that the site must serve the general population [and not only Arabs] and must be exclusively Israeli-controlled. "I suggest that the 'green' groups sit with the Civil Administration and try to come up with a mutual solution, and not get dragged into legal proceedings with the Supreme Court," he said.
Benny Elbaz, the Staff Officer for Environmental Matters in the civil administration, addressed the claims against the establishment of the site, asserting that the site will, indeed, be under Israeli control.
"The subject is in the Supreme Court, but I say: The waste management site will be established and serve both Jews and Arabs. I declare here that the site in Area C will be under the responsibility of the Civil Administration, under Israeli control."
Regarding suggestions for other locations of the planned site, Elbaz said: "You don't say no to a country that comes and wants to give 25 million euro."
On the other hand, Shlomo Naaman, adviser to Environmental Protection Minister Zeev Elkin, said that "permission is not granted for a waste management plant near Rimonim that only serves Arabs. We will leave it closed. The position of the Minister is that the site will serve the general population, and will be exclusively under Israeli control."