Jordan has requested an
additional 8 million cubic meters of water from Israel, on top of its share
under the peace treaty between the two countries, but the approval is yet to
come around, with reports claiming the approval is being held back.
اضافة اعلان
Officials from the Ministry of
Water and Irrigation are in talks with their Israeli peers over the request,
which observers believe it has been delayed for political reasons.
Officials contacted by Jordan
News declined to comment on the issue.
In a report published earlier this week in
Haaretz, which was translated and circulated widely
among Jordanians, the Israeli daily described the situation as a
"potential crisis." Pundits and former officials seem to agree with
this analysis.
“Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu is tarrying in his response to a Jordanian request for water from
Israel, a request made due to water shortages in the kingdom," Haaretz
reported.
The Kingdom, one of the most
water-poor countries in the world, faced a relatively dry winter this year,
which is expected to add strain on the Kingdom’s water sector and impact
agricultural production.
Munther Haddadin, a senior
negotiator during the Israeli-Jordanian peace talks in 1994, told Jordan
News that “this is not an Israel-Jordan problem, but a Netanyahu-Jordan
problem."
"I am not surprised, Netanyahu has been belligerent towards Jordan … This
has to do with his political survival,” Haddadin added.
Netanyahu “would do anything to
stay prime minister and avoid being convicted of corruption crimes," added Haddadin, who met with
Netanyahu last in 2006.
The Israeli leader is facing
multiple charges of corruption, according to Reuters
This is not the first instance that
Jordan has requested additional water from Israel, and previous requests were
processed ‘smoothly’,” Oraib Al Rantawi, director of Al-Quds Center for
Political Studies, told
Jordan News.
Former minister of foreign
affairs Jawad Anani described the latest spat as "a sequel in an already
hostile scene."
Anani noted that the Israeli premiere
“has spared no chance to provoke Jordan ... this could be related to a
potential fifth round of elections where he needs to gain as many votes from
the Israeli far right as possible."
Israel’s fourth elections in two
years ended in a stalemate once more, according to Reuters, and the country
could face yet another poll.
According to Rantawi, The Israeli prime minister "is trying to prove to
his supporters that Jordan needs Israel and not the other way around," following
heightened tensions between the Kingdom and Israel earlier this month related
to disruptions of a planned visit by HRH Crown Prince Hussein to occupied
Jerusalem by occupation authorities.
In response,
Jordan denied Netanyahu overflight permission for his flight to the UAE, which
he had to postpone.
Foreign Minister
Ayman Safadi told CNN earlier this month,
addressing Israel: “You renege on an agreement with Jordan, you disrupt a
religious visit, you create conditions that made this religious visit on a holy
occasion impossible, and then you expect to come to Jordan and fly out of
Jordan? Let’s be serious here.”
In 2019, His Majesty King Abdullah told DW news that "peace
between Jordan and Israel is at an all-time low."
Jordan received an estimated 5,185.8 million cubic meters of
rainwater this season, representing only 63.3 percent of the Kingdom’s annual
average rainfall, according to Minister of Water and Irrigation Mohammad
Najjar.
“Jordan faced limited rainfall during the 2021 season, bearing in
mind that we are one of the most water scarce countries in the world,” the
minister told
Jordan News.
As the winter season nears its end, dams across the Kingdom are
holding around 146 million cubic meters of water, representing 43.4 percent of
their total capacity. This relatively dry winter is expected to add strain on
the Kingdom’s water sector and impact agricultural production.
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