The Jewish National Fund has planted over 240 million trees in Israel. Critics say they are damaging Israel’s ecosystems and encroaching on previously Arab-owned land. HAIFA, Israel (JTA ...

In the state’s early years there was a rush to plant pines, considered among the only trees that could survive and grow quickly on the bare, rocky ground that covers much of Israel, Tauber said.

But it has now become so widespread in Israel and Palestine that many environmentalists ... and displaced millions more — view these tree-planting projects as another weapon used by colonists ...

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