The State of Israel is one of the smallest countries in the world, at around 20,000 sq. km, and has relatively few natural resources. Due to its limited space, semi-arid climate, high population growth and resource scarcity, Israel is highly susceptible to environmental crises. These include water shortages and pollution, shrinking of the Dead Sea, waste production and disposal, air pollution and population density. As a result, resource development, in particular water, has benefited from relatively high government support throughout most of the country's history. For example, Israel's water conservation and reclamation infrastructure is one of the most advanced in the world, with approximately half its water supply derived from reclaimed and treated waste water, brackish water and desalinated water.

Additionally, Israel is party to several international agreements regarding air pollution and climate change, including the Kyoto Protocol, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and Montreal Protocol. Despite having taken these steps, Israel's environment continues to suffer as a rapidly growing population and standard of living contributes to increasing Green House Gas emissions and air pollutants, reductions in natural and open spaces via urbanization, over-pumping of water sources beyond their replenishment rates and deterioration of water used for drinking and irrigation.

The State of Israel is a Middle Eastern country located along the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea and the Northern border of the world's largest desert belt. Israel has a semi-arid climate, with lengthy summers and short winters. According to the Köppen-Geiger climate classification system Israel is composed of three climate zones. Areas on the Mediterranean coast are classified as "dry-summer subtropical", (Csa), and experience both the hottest and coldest months of the year. Closer inland Israel transitions into a dry semi-arid climate (Bsh), with an average temperature of 18 C. Southern Israel is classified as a “hot desert climate” (Bwh) and receives an average of 50mm to 200mm of rainfall annually. Rainfall is relatively higher in the North, where approximately 78%, around 1,100mm, of the country's precipitation occurs annually.

While development in Israel has always been prioritized, environmental protection has not always received adequate attention by the government, resulting in the growth of a robust domestic environmental movement. The number of environmental NGOs has increased significantly in recent decades; currently there are over 100 registered organizations pursuing environmental campaigns with varying degrees of success. According to environmental activist Alon Tal, despite the dramatic increase in number of Israeli environmental movements since the 1990s, their organizations lack efficiency and effectiveness due to narrow agendas, limited sources of funding and a lack of professional capabilities. Although there is high ideological homogeneity among the environmental NGOs, their lack of efficiency in addressing environmental issues has hampered efforts to prevent an escalation in Israel's environmental problems.

According to a 2002 study by the Israeli Journal of chemistry, Israel's efforts to minimize the effects of chemical pollution and improve environmental quality have proven less effective than those of the EU and other countries.

Due to substantial growth in vehicle use and emissions from power plants, the presence of Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) and Sulfur Oxides (SOx) in the air near Israel's major urban centers have increased significantly between 1980 and 2002. Nitrogen oxides doubled twice during these years, CO₂ increased by 190%, and incidents of respiratory illness among children increased from 5%-17%.

On 22 November 2016 Israel ratified the Paris Agreement. The country is part of 3 initiatives in mitigation and adaptation and 16 other action taken by non governmental actors.

According to the INDS of Israel, the main mitigation targets is to reduce per capita greenhouse gas emissions to 8.8 tCO2e by 2025 and to 7.7 tCO2e by 2030. Total emissions should be 81.65 MtCO2e in 2030. In business as usual scenario the emissions should be 105.5 MtCO2e by 2030 or 10.0 tCO2e per capita.