March 16, 2023
The Ministry of Water and Irrigation (click here) on Thursday launched the National Water Strategy 2023-2040 to serve as a long-term plan to achieve water security in Jordan.
The strategy outlines the government's goals and plans to achieve water security in line with His Majesty King Abdullah's vision, tackling issues such as water scarcity, population growth and climate change, said Minister of Water and Irrigation Mohammad Najjar, deputising for the prime minister, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.
Noting that Jordan's per capita share of water currently stands at less than 61 cubic metres per year, Najjar highlighted Jordan's need for new water sources, optimal management of current water resources, water security and sustainable development.
Najjar noted that non-conventional water sources, including the National Water Carrier Project and wastewater treatment for agriculture, are essential components of Jordan's efforts to boost water supply and sustainability.
He highlighted the potential of non-conventional water sources to decrease water loss, improve water supplies and provide water for industrial, agricultural, and tourism projects.
The minister emphasised the importance of building an effective management system, tackling climate change and minimising groundwater depletion.
The strategy aims to reduce water losses, install modern smart meters and control systems and improve water sector governance, management and operation via modernising water sector institutions, streamlining processes and saving costs, he said....
Minister of Water and Irrigation Mohammad Najjar (click here) confirmed that Israel supplied Jordan with about 100 million cubic meters of water in 2022.
Among the 100mcm of water that entered Jordan last year, about 35 million through the 'peace treaty', and about 50 million additional ones outside the treaty were purchased, and about 10 million are stored in Sea of Galilee.
Jordan and the Israeli occupation signed a declaration of intent to rehabilitate and improve the environment and water system of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea, on the sidelines of the Sharm el-Sheikh climate summit.
A quarter of Jordan's water resources are shared with neighbouring countries, according to Ibrahim Hiyasat, advisor to the Minister of Water and Irrigation.
The Secretary-General of the Jordan Valley Authority, Manar Mahasneh said that the water supply to Jordan outside the treaty (50mcm) over a period of 3 years began in May 2021 and it will end in May 2024.
...This invention by the Technion researchers consists of a unique wind turbine, (click here) that does not require any electricity for it to run, and is cheap and easy to use and maintain.
The electric energy consumed today by desalination processes stands at about 3.5 kilowatt-hours (kWh) for each cubic meter of water. For the sake of illustration, approximately 4% of all electric energy produced in Israel in 2015 was used for desalination.
In addition to the high environmental costs of such vast energy consumption – energy which is produced in Israel mainly by burning fossil fuels – the need for so much electricity keeps the technology of desalinating and purifying water beyond the reach of over a billion people around the world who have no access to clean drinking water.
At the core of the new invention lies a turbine not known by many – the vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT). This turbine rotates around an upright axis (to visualize the movement of the turbine blades, imagine a man running around an electric pole), unlike the more familiar wind turbines, whose axis is horizontal....
Of course the real answer is for normal rainfall to return along with far more reduction of greenhouse gases.
With the serious issues facing the Middle East, it doesn't make sense that Saudi Arabia has chosen to create tensions with Israel. These tensions aren't even about delicate issues, this is about tourism.
A man rides his bicycle past a mosque in the Circassian village of Kfar Kama in the northern Galilee region, on December 21, 2022.
...Saudi Arabia (click here) refused to issue visas for an Israeli delegation to a UN event honoring spots picked as the world’s top rural tourist destinations for 2022, Israeli officials confirmed to The Times of Israel on Sunday.
The delegation was representing the Circassian town of Kfar Kama in the Galilee region of northern Israel, which was selected in December as an international “tourist village” by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).
The town, whose 3,500 residents are Muslim, was named among 32 villages from 22 countries including Morocco, Italy, Jordan, Mexico, Peru and others....
...Saudi Arabia (click here) refused to issue visas for an Israeli delegation to a UN event honoring spots picked as the world’s top rural tourist destinations for 2022, Israeli officials confirmed to The Times of Israel on Sunday.
The delegation was representing the Circassian town of Kfar Kama in the Galilee region of northern Israel, which was selected in December as an international “tourist village” by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).
The town, whose 3,500 residents are Muslim, was named among 32 villages from 22 countries including Morocco, Italy, Jordan, Mexico, Peru and others....
Israel is doing a lot of good work in regard to conservation and clean waterways.
By Sue Surkes
...Water authorities (click here) on Tuesday inaugurated an innovative project to pipe desalinated water into the Sea of Galilee in order to maintain the lake’s water level during dry years even as its waters fill growing regional demands.
One of the lowest-lying bodies of water on Earth, the Sea of Galilee is Israel’s largest freshwater lake and its emergency water store.
It is the first time in the world that desalinated water is being used to replenish a lake....
13 June 2022
In the Jordan Valley, (click here) reconstructed changes of the Sea of Galilee level have shown sharp fluctuations of the water elevation during the Holocene. In this paper, we provide new data originating from the excavations of Kursi Beach archaeological site located on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee and compare them with other data gathered from the archaeological site of Magdala, located on its western shore. Our data yield to constrain Sea of Galilee level changes between the Iron Age II (10th–9th centuries BCE) and the Crusader period (11th–12th centuries CE), a period of high interest for the archaeological community. We demonstrate that water level was around -212 to -210 m mean sea level (msl) for the Iron Age II period. Lake level rose to -208/-209 m msl during the Late Hellenistic/Early Roman period. Water level remained low (<-213/-214 m msl) from the Byzantine to the Crusader period (from 5th to 12th centuries CE). Our data provide new knowledge for the understanding of variations in the Sea of Galilee level in antiquity. We highlight that water level fluctuations must have been key factors taken into account in the habitation pattern.
By Sue Surkes
Ten environmental organizations (click here) said Monday that they have joined forces to campaign for the rehabilitation of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea.
The Dead Sea has been shrinking dramatically in recent years and is currently about half the size it was in 1976. Currently at 436 meters (1,430 feet) below sea level, it is dropping by 1.1–1.2 meters (45–48 inches) each year.
The umbrella body, called From the Point of View of the Sea, includes several not-for-profits already involved in water issues, such as Dead Sea Guardians, EcoPeace, the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, EcoOcean, Zalul, and the Negev Desert-focussed Sustainable Desert, as well as Lobby 99, a crowd-funded legal organization that is following the impending renewal of the state franchise to mine minerals from the Dead Sea. The student-based Green Course has also joined, as has Life and Environment, the umbrella body for all of Israel’s green groups....
This area of the world was never this parched. Besides being capable of producing food and water for populations of people, there were lush areas. Ethiopia, as an example, was a lush rainforest (click here).
In order to have rain there has to be water vapor. All the water vapor needed for rainfall globally cannot come from the oceans and travel far distances. The rainforests are a place where water vapor is produced through evapotranspiration of plants and ultimately into the air to create clouds and rain. These areas must be returned to Earth's ecosystems to return the planet back to it's natural state.
Currently, there is only one way to return these regions of vital importance to a contributing element of a healthy climate of the troposphere and that is desalination and restoration of rivers and lakes. There is no other feasible way. Countries that accept the challenge of the climate crisis work with scientists to end the crisis and begin to heal Earth.
By Sue Surkes
...The Dead Sea’s issues (click here) have been exacerbated by mineral mining operations that pump its water into massive evaporation pools to its south. The mining lease has been enshrined in law for nearly seven decades, but in the coming years the government will finally have a chance to reopen the contract, and possibly help slow the Dead Sea’s decline.
In the meantime, the Environmental Protection Ministry called this week for the government to set a target below which the level of the Dead Sea will not be allowed to fall. This was one of a slew of recommendations in a draft policy document issued for public comment.
It’s unclear whether such a target will win cabinet approval. But even if it does, serious questions remain regarding how, and if, Israel can keep the Dead Sea from dwindling further....
Israel is amazing in other ways. They have a new method of detecting contamination in water.
The Israeli startup (click here) that invented a connected toilet clip-on device that uses AI for continuous, 100 percent passive urine analysis now is developing a mobile kit to detect chemical and biological contaminants in lakes and natural water sources in Israel.
The unique optical system is being developed by Olive Diagnostics for national water carrier Mekorot to improve the monitoring and analysis of water sources.
The development agreement, which includes an investment by Mekorot in Olive Diagnostics, was signed following a series of successful tests in the early detection of chemical and biological micro-contaminants in treated wastewater reservoirs....
For Iran this is a no brainer. The protests in Iran (click here) are continuing and are exacerbated by economic deprivation. Saudi money is going to return an economy to Iran and with that Shi'ite Muslims in Iran hope the protests will end and bring the people back to the flock.
March 16, 2023
By Parisa Hafezi, Aziz El Yaakoubi and James Pomfret
...Iran denied involvement. (click here) Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi group claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Saudi Arabia's Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan has said that Saudi investments into Iran could now happen quickly.
Saudi Arabia cut ties with Iran in 2016 after its embassy in Tehran was stormed during a dispute between the two countries over Riyadh's execution of a prominent Shi'ite Muslim cleric.
Hostility between the two powers had endangered stability in the Middle East and fuelled regional conflicts including in Yemen, Syria and Lebanon.
Asked whether the Saudi-Iran deal might fray, Wang Di, a senior Chinese diplomat involved in the talks in Beijing, told reporters the rapprochement was a process without expectations that all issues would be solved overnight.
"The important thing is for both sides to have the sincerity to improve ties," he said, according to state Xinhua news agency reporter Yang Liu on Twitter....
Saudi Arabia (click here) has taken a complex approach to the recognition of Israel by several Arab countries in the Abraham Accords. It has a long history of clandestine cooperation with Israel against mutual enemies. Recently, it has said public recognition of Israel will come only if there is movement to resolve the Palestinian conflict and create a two-state solution. But the kingdom has tolerated and even abetted the development of diplomatic and military ties between some of its closest allies and Israel....
March 16, 2023
March 16, 2023
By Parisa Hafezi, Aziz El Yaakoubi and James Pomfret
...Iran denied involvement. (click here) Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi group claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Saudi Arabia's Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan has said that Saudi investments into Iran could now happen quickly.
Saudi Arabia cut ties with Iran in 2016 after its embassy in Tehran was stormed during a dispute between the two countries over Riyadh's execution of a prominent Shi'ite Muslim cleric.
Hostility between the two powers had endangered stability in the Middle East and fuelled regional conflicts including in Yemen, Syria and Lebanon.
Asked whether the Saudi-Iran deal might fray, Wang Di, a senior Chinese diplomat involved in the talks in Beijing, told reporters the rapprochement was a process without expectations that all issues would be solved overnight.
"The important thing is for both sides to have the sincerity to improve ties," he said, according to state Xinhua news agency reporter Yang Liu on Twitter....
What is concerning is why would relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia change? If China has brokered a peace deal that will also serve as an economic engine in Iran, why is Israel considered a point of contention? It has nothing to do with Israel.
It appears China is attempting a power play that also includes ostracizing Israel from international relationships of long time friends.
July 11, 2022
China appears to be attempting to divide the Middle East into allies of the communists or allies of the Free World. That type of division will not serve to bring peace to the region, but, invite more instability and a definite approach to a larger war of choice by China and Russia.
Israel has the right values for land and water in this climate crisis environment. It is a country with great talents that produce peaceful products that can stem disease. There is absolutely no reason for Israel to be regarded as a threat to the Middle East. There is no doubt there is a continued conflict with Palestine, but, taking that to a larger global venue is a mistake.
Ramallah, Palestinian Territories — Israeli forces (click here) on Thursday killed four Palestinians including a teenager in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said, the latest deadly raid on Jenin.
The Israeli forces said they "neutralised" two suspects accusing them of "terrorist activities".
The Palestinian health ministry said 23 others had been wounded in the raid in the northern West Bank city, five of them seriously....
February 3, 2023
By Anshel Pfeffer
Benjamin Netanyahu's sixth government (click here) is only five and a half weeks old and we’re already into week 5 of the protests against its plan to drastically weaken the Supreme Court and fundamentally change the nature of Israel’s limited and fragile democracy.
It was a fifth weekend of mass protests in Tel Aviv and other cities, somewhat overshadowed by a bizarre social media post by a retired air force officer. According to Col. Zeev Raz, “If a prime minister stands up and assumes dictatorial powers, he's a dead man. It’s as simple as that.”...
The Israeli forces said they "neutralised" two suspects accusing them of "terrorist activities".
The Palestinian health ministry said 23 others had been wounded in the raid in the northern West Bank city, five of them seriously....
If China is sincerely interested in peace in this area of the world, why then is Israel left out of the peace solution. If Israel can be at the same table to bring about a peaceful Middle East, that would have to include the Palestinians. China is going to Russia to broker a unilateral peace that only Russia has to agree to, it is basically doing the same thing in the Middle East without all parties involved in a solution.
By Anshel Pfeffer
Benjamin Netanyahu's sixth government (click here) is only five and a half weeks old and we’re already into week 5 of the protests against its plan to drastically weaken the Supreme Court and fundamentally change the nature of Israel’s limited and fragile democracy.
It was a fifth weekend of mass protests in Tel Aviv and other cities, somewhat overshadowed by a bizarre social media post by a retired air force officer. According to Col. Zeev Raz, “If a prime minister stands up and assumes dictatorial powers, he's a dead man. It’s as simple as that.”...
Israel is facing political divisions no different than the rest of the Free World. It is time for Israel to ask who benefits from these divisions and when will be the right time to end such issues. The Netanyahu government needs to limit it's attacks on it's own democracy and realize there are larger issues outside of Israel that need to be front and center of the attention of it's government to unify it and end these divisions. I believe China is a threat to Israel. The time is now to prevent any further tensions with any of it's neighbors.
