Historic agreement signed to lay pipeline linking Red Sea and Dead Sea

In a rare instance of Middle East co-operation, Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority (PA) have signed an agreement for laying a pipeline from the Red Sea, at the southern tip of Israel, to the Dead Sea.

About 100 million cubic meters of water annually will be piped northwards, and will help slow the drying process of the Dead Sea, on the Israel-Jordan border, whose level has fallen dangerously low over recent years.

The agreement was signed by Jordanian water minister Hazem al-Nasser, his Palestinian counterpart Shaddad Attili, and Israel’s regional co-operation minister Silvan Shalom.

“This is an historic step that fulfils a dream of many years,” Mr Shalom said. “This is strategic co-operation of diplomatic significance between Israel, Jordan and the PA.”

Feasible
The project linking the two seas was first talked about by the British in the 19th century, but only became feasible after Israel and Jordan signed a peace agreement in 1994.

Years of contacts led up to this week’s agreement, which is designed to save the Dead Sea from environmental degradation, to desalinate water and to provide affordable electricity for Jordan, Israel and the PA.

As part of the agreement, a water desalination plant will also be built in the Jordanian Red Sea port of Aqaba, and Israel, Jordan and the PA will share millions of cubic meters of water from this plant and from Israel’s Sea of Galilee in the north.

Tenders will be issued within a year for the laying of the pipeline and the construction of the desalinisation plant, and it is hoped the project can be completed in four to five years.

The cost of the project, known informally as the Red- Dead project, could reach €300 million, and will be raised from donor countries, the World Bank and philanthropic sources.

Supporters of the project termed it a win-win scenario: Israel was desperate to save the Dead Sea, and the Palestinians and Jordanians were desperate for water.

But not everyone was in favour. Friends of the Earth Middle East and other environmental groups warned that a large influx of Red Sea water could radically change the Dead Sea’s fragile ecosystem, forming gypsum crystals and introducing red algae blooms.

However, the planners bypassed the opposition of green groups, most of them based in Israel, by deciding to lay the pipelines on the Jordanian side of the border.

There was also political opposition from Palestinian groups who accused Israel of grabbing West Bank water resources for use by Jewish settlers. Over 94 per cent of the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea area is prohibited for Palestinian use, with the land either declared a closed military zone or allocated for settlements.