Israel, Jordan, PA agree to build Red Sea-Dead Sea canal
The Times of Israel reported Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority on Monday inked an agreement to build a long-anticipated pipeline from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea, part of an initiative that would produce millions of cubic meters of drinking water for the parched region and slake the critically dwindling Dead Sea.
Representatives of the three parties to the agreement – Israel’s Minister for Regional Cooperation Silvan Shalom, Jordanian Minister of Water and Irrigation Hazem Nasser, and Palestinian Authority Minister for Water Shaddad Attili – gathered at the World Bank in Washington for an official signing ceremony.
“This is a historic agreement that realizes a dream of many years and the dream of Herzl. The agreement is of the highest diplomatic, economic, environmental and strategic importance,” Shalom said of the deal on Monday.
The Red Sea-Dead Sea canal, known informally as the Red-Dead project, is expected to cost $300-$400 million, to be raised from donor countries and philanthropic sources as well as a cash injection from the World Bank, the report said. Within a year, international tenders will be published for the construction of the pipeline in Jordanian territory along the Arava valley.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: May they prosper who love you. Psalm 122:6 (NKJV)
Read The Times of Israel article, December 9, 2013.
Photo credit: Oren Nahshon/Flash90
