Netanyahu agrees to give Jordan extra water
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has agreed to provide Jordan with additional water as a sign that its crisis with the Hashemite Kingdom has abated.
Israel had initially delayed any response to the Hashemite Kingdom’s request for an additional three million cubic meters of water above and beyond its annual allocation.
The decision appeared to be timed to correspond with a two-day visit to Israel by US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
It’s a gesture Israel can comply with given that rainfalls have increased the level of available water in the Sea of Galilee, also known as the Kinneret.
Israel provides Jordan with 55 million cubic meters of water annually at 3 cents per cubic meter, as set out under the terms of the 1994 peace treaty between the two countries.
In 2010 it agreed to expand that annual allocation by 10 million cubic meters at 40 cents a cubic meter. This new 3 million allocation will also cost Jordan 40 cents a cubic meter.
No public announcement was made about the matter, nor was it publicly discussed during Austin’s visit.
Israeli officials told The Jerusalem Post that the water request had been approved.
Netanyahu had delayed a response to the Hashemite request for the 3 million cubic meters because of the recent crisis atmosphere that prevailed between the two countries.
In March, Hashemite Crown
Prince Hussein bin Abdullah canceled a planned visit to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem after Israel refused to allow extra Jordanian security guards to accompany him.
Jordan then refused to approve Netanyahu’s flight path over Jordan to the United Arab Emirates, a move that led to cancellation of the trip, which the UAE has yet to reschedule. Israel in turn briefly shut its airspace to Jordan.
This soured atmosphere made it inappropriate to respond to the Jordanian water request. Nor was it approved during the crisis that briefly rocked the Hashemite Kingdom, with reports of an attempted coup by King Abdullah’s half-brother Prince Hamza.
That crisis has now abated with Hamza pledging allegiance to the king. He appeared at a ceremony on Sunday marking 100 years of Jordan’s independence.
But an economic crisis fueled in part by the COVID-19 pandemic, the large influx of refugees from Syria and the continued water shortages have contributed to public unrest in Jordan.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Abdullah last Thursday and “reaffirmed the US commitment to its strategic partnership with Jordan,” a US State Department spokesman said.
Blinken’s call came a day after President Joe Biden underlined strong US support for Jordan and the king’s leadership.