Israel and Jordan sign a huge agreement between the UAE to swap solar energy and water – EQ Mag Pro
Israel and Jordan on Monday signed their largest co-operation agreement to date, which will include the construction of a major solar power plant in the Hashemite kingdom to generate electricity for the Jewish state, while a desalination plant established in Israel will send water to Jordan.
The agreement was mediated by the United Arab Emirates, which hosted a signing ceremony at the Dubai Expo. Present at the ceremony were UAE Secretary of State Mohammed bin Zayed and US Climate Envoy John Kerry, who helped bring the agreement across the finish line.
The agreement will mean that Israel will buy solar energy from the Jordan-based plant, which will be built by an emirate company, and Jordan will buy water from the Israeli site to be built along the Mediterranean coast.
The agreement represented the latest by-product of the Abrahamization Agreement normalization agreement Israel signed with the UAE last year under the auspices of the Trump administration. The Biden administration has also promised to build on these agreements, while remaining adamant that they are not a substitute for Israeli-Palestinian peace.
The agreement was reportedly first raised at a meeting in September between Energy Minister Karine Elharrar and UAE Ambassador to Israel Mohamed Al Khaja, during discussions on how the UAE can help mediate future regional agreements in the wake of the Abraham agreement.
Elharrar met with Jordan’s water and irrigation minister Mohammed Al-Najjar last month to sign a separate agreement doubling the amount of water Israel supplies to the eternally dehydrated Jordan.
The Israeli minister said the deal was the “most significant” since former enemies signed a 1994 peace deal.
“The benefit of this agreement is not only in the form of green electricity or desalinated water, but also the strengthening of the relationship with the neighbor who has the longest border with Israel,” she said in a statement Monday.
“The Middle East is at the forefront of the climate crisis,” Kerry said in a statement. “Only by working together can the countries of the region reach the extent of the challenge.”
There was no statement immediately available from Jordan that has long publicly downplayed its ties to Israel.
Preliminary studies for the project are due to start next year.
Jordan is one of the world’s most water – poor nations, and its cooperation on water with Israel dates back to before the two established formal relations.
Israel is also a hot, dry country, but its advanced desalination technology has opened up opportunities to sell fresh water.
The letter of intent states that Jordan’s solar cell plant with a capacity of 600 MW will export green power to Israel, which will supply Jordan with up to 200 million cubic meters of desalinated water.
Jordan, which is almost without land, faces serious water prospects as its population grows and temperatures rise.
Experts say future cooperation could help improve relations, which Jordan’s King Abdullah has described as a “cold peace.”
Under their 1994 peace agreement, the Jewish state recognized Jordan’s oversight of Muslim holy sites in East Jerusalem, which was conquered by Israel during the 1967 Six Day War.
But there are often demonstrations in Jordan in solidarity with the Palestinians.
Monday’s deal came after bilateral ties cooled under former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who took office in June, has made it a priority to strengthen ties with Amman. In July, the Prime Minister met with King Abdullah II in secret at the Crown Palace in Amman, at the first summit between the countries’ leaders in over three years.
Shortly afterwards, the countries announced that Israel would sell 50 million cubic meters of water a year to Jordan, which would double what it already supplies, and in October they agreed to raise the amount further.
According to news site Walla, Monday’s agreement was due to be signed at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow earlier this month, but Bennett pushed for a delay for fear the agreement would trigger criticism from the opposition days before the coalition sought to adopt the annual budget.
Source : bloombergquint
