News
In recent days, discussions have been taking place on withdrawal from the UN climate agreement, with the aim of submitting the recommendation for approval or decision by the Prime Minister, ahead of his trip to the United States. The reason: pressure from President Trump. If Israel withdraws from the agreement, following the United States, it would be the first—and possibly the only—one to do so among the 195 countries that are parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
According to Prof. Ruslana Rachel Palatnik, an expert in economics and natural resources at the Yezreel Valley College and the University of Haifa, and a Senior Researcher of the Natural Resources and Environmental Research Center (NRERC), withdrawing from the climate agreement would disrupt a multi-year process of integrating climate considerations into public policy, undermine investment in clean projects and the advancement of a carbon tax, and dismantle the international framework that obliges policymakers in Israel to look beyond short-term interests.
משרד החוץ והשרה עידית סילמן מקדמים את פרישת ישראל מהסכם האקלים של האו”ם
בימים האחרונים מתקיים דיונים בנושא, כדי להעביר את ההמלצה לאישורו או להחלטתו של ראש הממשלה, לקראת נסיעתו לארה״ב – הסיבה: לחץ של טראמפ. אם ישראל תפרוש מההסכם, בעקבות ארה״ב, היא תהיה הראשונה וייתכן שגם היחידה לעשות זאת מבין 195 המדינות החברות באמנת המסגרת של האו״ם לשינויי אקלים.
לדברי פרופ’ רוסלנה רחל פלטניק, מומחית לכלכלת הסביבה ממכללה האקדמית עמק יזרעאל ועמית מחקר במרכז לחקר משאבי טבע וסביבה, באוניברסיטת חיפה, יציאה מהסכם האקלים תקטע תהליך רב-שנים של הטמעת שיקולי אקלים, השקעה בפרויקטים נקיים וקידום מס פחמן, ותבטל את המסגרת הבינלאומית שמחייבת את קובעי המדיניות בישראל להסתכל מעבר לטווח הקצר.
Dr. David Katz, from the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of Haifa and a Research Fellow at the NRERC, believes that the state is not conveying to the public the true severity of Israel’s water shortage. Climate change is leading to a reduction in rainfall amounts and an increase in the intensity of rainstorms. However, even the heavy downpours that cause flooding have failed to halt the trend: Israel’s natural water reservoirs are drying up, and agricultural fields in the north of the country are often left without a viable solution.
ד”ר דוד כץ מבית הספר למדעי הסביבה באוניברסיטת חיפה , עמית מחקר במרכז לחקר מדעי המטבע והסביבה, סבור שהמדינה אינה משדרת לציבור את עוצמת המחסור במים בישראל. שינויי האקלים מובילים להפחתה בכמויות הגשם ולעלייה בעוצמות הממטרים. אבל גם הממטרים הכבדים, המובילים להצפות, לא מצליחים לבלום את המגמה: מאגרי המים הטבעיים של ישראל מתייבשים, והשדות החקלאיים בצפון הארץ נותרים פעמים רבות ללא פתרון.
https://www.calcalist.co.il/local_news/article/sjl3km3ezl
Half-Day Training Workshop on the MESSAGEix_IL Model for the Israeli Energy System
Prof. Ruslana Rachel Palatnik
20 January 2026
The objective of the workshop is to provide an introduction to the MESSAGEix_IL model of the Israeli energy system and to examine its potential use for relevant stakeholders. MESSAGEix_IL is a long-term Integrated Assessment Model (IAM) of the Israeli energy system. The model is a national-level implementation of the global IAM MESSAGEix, which has been developed over the past four decades at the IIASA research center.
The model is a dynamic optimization model based on a detailed representation of a wide range of energy technologies, including technologies currently in use in Israel as well as those that may be introduced in the future (such as hydrogen, nuclear energy, and others). The model represents the entire energy system, from resource extraction, international trade, refining and conversion, transmission and distribution, to the provision of energy services for various end uses, including households and the commercial sector, industrial processes, and transportation at different scales, both at the national and global levels.
The solution of the optimization model yields the optimal energy supply mix to meet energy demand under technical, economic, and environmental constraints.
Location: Tel Aviv University
Agenda
13:30 Registration and refreshments
14:00 Opening session and introduction to the MESSAGEix model
14:45 Break
15:00 Insights from recent studies and case studies
15:45 Break
16:00 Discussion on the potential use of the MESSAGEix model for decision-makers and questions for future research
About the Lecturer
Ruslana Rachel Palatnik is an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics and Management at the Yezreel Valley Academic College, and a Research Fellow at the Natural Resources and Environmental Research Center at the University of Haifa, the Israel Democracy Institute, the ATHENA Research Center in Greece, and the IIASA Institute in Austria.
Over the years, Professor Palatnik has led research whose practical implementation has contributed to shaping environmental and economic policy in Israel. This includes advancing the carbon tax that was incorporated into the state budget (though not in its final form; Professor Palatnik continues to collaborate with the Ministry of Environmental Protection and additional partners on research examining its future design), as well as advising the Ministry of Energy on the development of a low-emission, economically efficient energy sector.
Professor Palatnik also researches the role of the bioeconomy in sustainable economic growth. She serves as Israel’s official representative to the European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists (EAERE).
Hebrew translation and registration link may be found on the following link:
You are invited to a launch event for a new research center, supported by the Planning and Budgeting Committee (PBC), involving six research institutions in Israel. The center focuses on the development of technologies for recovering energy and materials from waste.
Prof. Ofira Ayalon, the director of NRERC, will deliver the keynote lecture on this event.
הינכם מוזמנים לארוע חשיפה של מרכז מחקר חדש בתמיכת ות”ת בהשתתפות 6 מוסדות מחקר בישראל המתמקד בפיתוח טכנולוגיות להשבת אנרגיה וחומרים מפסולת.
פרופ’ אופירה אילון , ראש המרכז לחקר משאבי טבע וסביבה תתן את הרצאת הפתיחה באירוע.
