Sharren Haskel’s greatest ambition as a Knesset member is to combine parliamentary and environmental policy together, Likud’s recently appointed MK told Arutz Sheva on Monday. 

The Canadian-born Haskel, 31, will replace Danny Danon, who leaves the Knesset to become Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations.

“When Danny Danon called me to tell me, I was very happy,” Haskel recounted. “The UN is now a hostile arena and I think that they really chose the right man to fight for us there.”

Prior to joining Likud, where she placed 31st on its list for the 2015 elections, Haskel received a degree in international relations and political science from the Open University and worked as a certified veterinary nurse. 

When asked how she plans to integrate her position in a right-wing party with an environmental platform that is usually characteristic of the Left, Haskel asserted that many “green” issues were promoted by the Right, such as banning the production of foie gras in Israel.  

“It may not be popular for the Right to deal with this field, but we do deal with it,” Haskel noted. “Beyond that, my heart is always with the environment and animals.”

One particular environmental issue Haskel aims to combat is river pollution into Israel from the Palestinian Authority. “It’s extremely serious if the pollution comes from us, and even more so if [waters] are being contaminated externally,” Haskel asserted.

Contaminated water from our rivers “reaches the Mediterranean Sea and the Dead Sea and can penetrate the Mountain Aquifer and from there irreversibly contaminate our sources of water. It’s a terrible thing.”

According to Haskel, unregulated and unchecked wastewater streams come from all over areas under PA control, leading to the death of vegetation and generating diseases. 

Haskel says through her post on the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, she hopes to bring the issue to the public agenda and fight it until the “matter is resolved.”

As to peace negotiations with the Palestinian Authority, Haskel said she trusted Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to act according to political dynamics in the Middle East as well as Israel’s security needs. 

“We have nothing to talk about now with the Palestinians,” she added. “When they stop the violence, the stone throwing, stop encouraging terrorism and calling terrorists ‘martyrs,’ then maybe we can sit down and discuss.”