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Developing an Israeli Grand Strategy toward
a Peaceful Two-State Solution
Palestinian Authority. The PA will subsequently receive income
from the Israel Electric Corporation and/or be able to market
the gas in Jordan via the Israeli pipeline infrastructure to
make the development of the gas field cost effective (Gaza
Reconstruction paper, 2015) as well as offer Israel much
needed competition in its monopolized gas market. Indeed,
the development and exploitation of the GazaMarine off-shore
gas field represents a ‘game changer’ in terms of the cluster
of major projects it can make possible, such as desalination
facilities and waste-water treatment plants. Moreover, it is
a rare example of an all-round ‘win-win’ proposition which
needs not – indeed must not -- await the conclusion of a
permanent status agreement.
Water & Wastewater
Particularly in the field of water and wastewater a solution-
oriented approach could be immediately achieved and enable
both the expansion of Palestinian agriculture and the creation
of a substantial number of employment opportunities. Also
here the situation is presently gridlocked, as both sides, Israel
and the PA, handle the water issue solely via the political
lens, on account of the well-being of the people.
The Israeli–Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank
and the Gaza Strip, known as Oslo II, was the first to be
explicit about “Palestinian water rights in the West Bank”
and to establish a framework for the management of shared
water resources. Thus, article 40 of the Interim Agreement
pertains to the establishment of a Joint Water Committee
(JWC) and a Palestinian Water Authority (PWA); allocation
of water between Israel and Palestine, with a focus on the
Mountain Aquifer; and mutual obligations to treat or reuse
wastewater (Brooks et al., 2013).
There is growing consensus that (a) the water issues should
be resolved now and not left “hostage” due to lack of
progress on the core issues of conflict and (b) that due to
significant technological advancement in both desalination
and wastewater treatment, water issues can be resolved
in the immediate to medium-term period. Reaching new
understandings on water allocation and management is
important, since in the absence of sustainable use of water
by both peoples, overall social and economic development
will be threatened, and so will stability in the region (Brooks
et al., 2013).
A comprehensive Israeli-Palestinian agreement on water
should be based on the equal division of quantities per capita
and the maximization and utilization of renewable sources.
Israeli water technology is a global leader, and significant
headway has been made in recent years to the extent that
there is no shortage of supply in a generally arid region and
despite successive drought seasons, particularly in northern
Israel. Although this expertise should be used to support the
sustainable development of an
independently-managed
Palestinian water sector, it is well-known that nature knows
no boundaries and shared water reservoirs and eco-systems
will continue to
necessitate regional cooperation and
obligation to preserve shared natural resources
.
While Israel has reached a level of maintenance, desalination
and water re-usage that make it much less dependent on
climate and other external shocks, the situation throughout
the Palestinian Territories is much more complex. In Gaza,
international agencies have long warned that living conditions,
most notably potable water and sewage conditions, will
become “un-livable” by the year 2020. In the West Bank,
drastic cuts in “Mekorot” (the Israeli water company) supply
to Palestinian villages have occurred throughout the month of
June 2016, starting an accusation battle between Palestinian
and Israeli officials who complain solutions are all available,
but each side blocks the other in the Joint Water Committee.
As a result necessary water infrastructure and maintenance
work is not being carried out, “which has led to the old and
limited pipes being unable to transfer all the water needed
in the region.”
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This is a most negative illustration of the
consequences of deadlock reached in water cooperation.
On the issue of wastewater, much improvement is needed.
Less than one-third of the West Bank’s Palestinian population
has sewage systems connected to wastewater treatment
plants; the remainder of the population relies on septic
tanks and cesspits, which are often poorly maintained
(Brooks et al., 2013). Whereas in Gaza, despite 70 percent
of the population being connected to sewage collection
systems, rates of treatment are reported to be as low as 25
percent (Palestinian Water Authority, 2014). Again, the water
gridlock has been delaying planned solutions. According
to a 2013 survey by the Israel Parks and Nature Authority,
over 90 percent of sewage from Palestinian towns (and 13%
of Israeli settlements) flows untreated into the Green Line,
polluting groundwater aquifers shared by the two sides.
Many argue a particularly severe example of this pollution is
the Kidron Valley/Wadi-El-Nar River basin that begins in the
West Jerusalem neighborhoods, through to East Jerusalem
and continues through the Judean Desert to the Dead Sea.
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A master plan to rehabilitate the highly polluted valley was
planned to begin implementation by a Dutch company who
retracted its project, after being subjected to political pressure
not to operate in East Jerusalem, beyond the internationally-
recognized Green Line. Moreover, the solution of diverting
wastewater to treatment plants in Israel is in contrast to
international law which prohibits the unilateral utilization of
shared water resources. Other attempts to redirect wastewater
treated in Israel back to Palestinian (agricultural usage) have
been met by both political and technical/financial problems,
when the standard and associated costs of wastewater
treatment in Israel remain too high for the Palestinian farmers
and household consumers. Finding a mutually accepted
solution to implement the Kidron Valley rehabilitation project
would set a highly useful precedent.
Even more important would be to get both sides to negotiate
and conclude (here and now) an agreement on water. Such
11 Ha’aretz, June 2016:
news/1.726132
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