Turkey / Israel Deals
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Israel signs agreement to buy water from Turkey
March 2004
U.S. Water News Online
JERUSALEM — Israel has signed an agreement to buy water from Turkey and may pay for part of it with weapons, in a deal aimed at alleviating Israel’s chronic water shortage and cementing its relations with an important Middle East ally.
Under the 20-year agreement, Turkey will ship 40,500 acre feet of water annually from its Manavgat River, which flows into the Mediterranean Sea, the two countries said. Details must still be worked out, including the price of the water and how to transport it to Israel, they said.
The agreement, more than two years in the making, comes at a time when Israel’s main source of fresh water, the Sea of Galilee, is full to overflowing after abundant rainfall. But long-term prospects in the arid region are bleak.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Jonathan Peled said the water would probably be shipped in tankers or towed across the Mediterranean in large plastic bubbles to a storage facility.
Based on estimated shipping costs from the ministry, the deal could amount to tens of millions of dollars a year for Turkey. Peled said a small amount of that money would be paid in goods, most likely military items.
In the parched Middle East, water is a strategic issue as well as one of survival. Turkey is one of the few countries in the region with water reserves, and sales of the precious commodity could boost its position as a regional power.
Israel’s relationship with the large Islamic country is important to the Jewish state, especially after more than three years of fighting with the Palestinians. The violence has caused tension in the Middle East and strained Israel’s ties with Egypt and Jordan, the only Arab countries with which it has signed peace treaties.
“This agreement will increase the cooperation between the two countries and also lead to peace and stability in the Middle East,” said Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Namik Tan.
He said the landmark agreement turns water into an internationally accepted “commodity,” and that Turkey hopes to sell water to other countries.
Israel currently gets most of its water from the Sea of Galilee. It also is building a desalination plant in the port city of Ashkelon, a project that is expected to take several years to complete.
Peled said Israel hopes the deal with Turkey could lead to further agreements to share water with Jordan or the Palestinians.