WATER POLITICS

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said on Thursday that Jordan will not sign a water-for-energy deal with Israel in light of the ongoing war on the Gaza Strip.

During an interview with Aljazeera News Channel, Safadi said that the deal was supposed to be signed last month but Jordan “will not sign it”.

Citing Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza, the minister said, “Can you imagine a Jordanian minister sitting next to an Israeli minister to sign the deal while Israeli is killing our people in Gaza?”

He said that Israel is pushing the entire region to “abyss” with its brutal war on Gaza, adding that the West Bank is boiling and tension on the Lebanese-Israeli borders is increasing.

“Israel has created an environment of hatred and enmity with its actions,” Safadi said, adding that this has made it impossible to have any normal relations with Israel.

In November 2022, Jordan and Israel signed a memorandum of understanding to move ahead with a water-for-energy deal.

Under the agreement, Jordan was to build 600 megawatts of solar power capacity to export to Israel, which would in return provide Jordan with 200 million cubic metres of de-salinated water.

Amid Israeli war on Gaza, the Lower House said earlier this week that it would examine all agreements Jordan has signed with Israel and make recommendations for the government to take the required action.

In addition to the 1994 Wadi Arab Peace Treaty, Jordan signed a mega deal with Israel in 2016 under which the Kingdom will receive gas for 15 years from a field in the Mediterranean.