Israel Environment's posts with tag: politicians
- The water level in the Sea of Galilee, Israel’s largest reservoir and freshwater source, has dropped by six centimeters (2.36 inches) over the Passover holiday, the Water Authority announced.
In July the level is expected to drop below the “Black Line,” the absolute lower limit below which no more water can be pumped from the lake.
- Experts predict Israel to experience a drought of potentially unprecedented proportions because of a relatively dry winter that follows on the heels of several dry years. The Black Line is met when water levels drop to a point so low that the openings of the pumps are exposed and further pumping becomes simply impossible.
The truth is that the Kinneret is drying up from the activities of the "peacemakers." I should know. In 1994, I interviewed the chief Israeli negotiator of the Water Treaty between Jordan and Israel. Back then I was the Israeli correspondent for a London company called the Gemini News Service. Thanks to them, my work was published widely throughout Third World newspapers. I noticed a newspaper quote about the water negotiations from Yaacov Tsemach of the national water company, Tahal. It caught my eye because a Yaacov Tsemach was my really good, longtime army buddy. I admired his sharp wit and, a rarity among Israelis, great sense of humor. So I called Tahal and to my total delight, it was my buddy on the line.
We arranged to meet and got along like old times. He was assistant to the chief negotiator of the water sections of the then-building, Israeli-Jordanian Peace Treaty. I asked if I could interview the negotiator and he said he'd put in a good word for me. Well, a good word from Yaacov did the trick. If I agreed to keep the negotiator's name anonymous, he would meet with me within the week.
We met at a Tel Aviv restaurant and he began, like all good bureaucrats, handing me graphs and surveys. In retrospect, I've wondered why I brought out so many sources, but the truth must be, the rest of the media were selling "peace" and I was looking where they chose not to enter. The bar graphs showed a lot of blue above the "red" line of the lake over 30 odd years before the Treaty,**** then it sunk after the proposed "peace" agreement. I, naturally, asked what happened.
The negotiator ordered a drink, then shortly after, another. And he became teary.
"I sure hope our leaders know what they're doing," he said. "Because if they're wrong, the Kinneret will disappear in a generation. Within twenty years, it will be nearly useless for our water needs."
I asked what he meant. He then gave me the title of my Gemini article, "Giving Away Dream Water."
"The government is going to give away 50 million cubic meters of lake water a year and they ordered me to find it. I'm giving away dream water."
The negotiator told me where he went looking for the water. "There are brackish streams on the west of the lake. We'll give that away. We'll dam the Yarmuk and give that water away. But it was supposed to flow into the system anyway. There is no water to give away. Not even 5 million cubic meters. The government is so anxious to sign the Treaty with Jordan that it's accepting all their arguments. The truth is the Kinneret is our lake. They have no claim on it."
The seriousness of the man's dilemma became more obvious as I walked him to his car. "You think 50 million cubic meters is nothing. And it is in one year, provided it's replenished the following year. But 50 million compounded year after year will suck the lake dry in one generation, after staying stable for millennia. Just don't write that I killed our lake."
And still, the writers from Israel report on dry winters and hot springs as the cause of the upcoming disaster. One of the real killers of the lake is currently President of the State. Remember him with deep emotion when your tap runs dry. ***** On October 26, 1994, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Prime Minister Abdul-Salam Majali signed the Treaty of Peace between the State of Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the second peace treaty Israel has signed since its independence.
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