BICOM

Israel will examine a proposal to build a canal to link the Red Sea to the Dead Sea as part of improving relations with Jordan.

The project is one of several ideas that have reportedly been proposed in Israel to ease Jordan’s water shortage in advance of expected negotiations with Amman after King Abdullah II announced that a land lease arrangement within the Israel-Jordan peace treaty will not be renewed.

The canal project would transport water from the Red Sea to a desalination plant in Jordan, which would then send desalinated water to Amman, while the unused salt-water would be piped to the Dead Sea to resolve its receding waterline.

Haaretz reports that “government and defence officials, including senior officials close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have been discussing the project ever since Jordan announced the lease cancellation. They have discussed its security aspects, the canal’s route and the necessary crossings along the Israeli-Jordanian border”.

The World Bank has been involved in planning the project, which is estimated to cost $2.7bn. Jordan has accused Israel of delaying the canal project, considered vital to alleviate its water crisis, which the countries agreed to build in 2015. The project is opposed by environmental groups and is considered by some in the Israeli Government as prohibitively expensive.

Israel believes helping Jordan ease its water problems could reduce bilateral tensions. On 21 October King Abdullah II said that he will not be renewing the 25-year lease clause in the 1994 bilateral peace treaty. Abdullah said that by refusing to renew the lease, Jordan is “practicing our full sovereignty on our land. Our priority in these regional circumstances is to protect our interests and do whatever is required for Jordan and the Jordanians”.