Supreme Court Upholds Ruling: Dead Sea Works to Pay Public Half Billion Shekels for Water
Translated & summarized from Globes by baba
Israel's Supreme Court has finalized a ruling requiring Dead Sea Works (ICL) to pay approximately half a billion shekels for water extracted from the Dead Sea. The court rejected ICL's request for an additional hearing, upholding the original decision that mandates the payment. This ruling concludes a long legal battle initiated by environmental groups, affirming that public natural resources are not exempt from fees for large corporations.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- Supreme Court finalized ruling for Dead Sea Works to pay public 500 million shekels for water.
- The company already paid 330 million shekels, with an additional 170 million shekels now due.
- The ruling ends a long legal battle over public natural resource usage fees.
- Environmental groups hailed the decision as a victory for public resource management.
- The funds are expected to be returned to the public via the water economy, potentially lowering tariffs.
Israel's Supreme Court has definitively rejected a request by Dead Sea Works (ICL) for an additional hearing regarding a previous ruling that mandates the company pay for the water it extracts from the Dead Sea concession area. This decision solidifies the earlier ruling, meaning that 330 million shekels already paid by ICL will remain with the public, and an additional 170 million shekels will be added, bringing the total to approximately half a billion shekels.
The legal battle began in December when the High Court of Justice ruled that ICL's factories are not exempt from paying water fees. The company had argued it was exempt from separate payments for using Dead Sea water, in addition to the annual royalties it pays the government for its mining concession. The total payment for the years 2017-2030 is estimated at around 500 million shekels, funds that will now be returned to the public through the water economy, potentially lowering water tariffs.
Meirav Abadi, Director of Regulation at Adam Teva V'Din, one of the petitioners, stated that this ruling concludes a long-standing struggle to establish the principle that public natural resources are not free for the taking. She highlighted that ICL, which draws about 20% of the water used by all industries in Israel, had benefited for years from an exemption that applied to all other citizens and businesses, generating significant profits from a public resource without public compensation.
Abadi emphasized that the ruling returns hundreds of millions of shekels to the public and clarifies that there is no separate law for citizens and large corporations. She described the outcome as a historic achievement and a crucial step in the broader effort to ensure the future of the Dead Sea and its preservation for future generations.