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 3 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.
www.jpost.com
