(Wall Street Journal) Stanley M. Chesley and Ronald S. Lauder - Over two years ago, the Jewish National Fund (JNF) began a diplomatic and philanthropic process to import water from Turkey to help to narrow Israel's significant water deficit and benefit Israel's neighbors as well. A detailed business plan was developed for a private company to purchase five single-hull tankers. Due to new regulations requiring double-hull tankers for oil transport, the price of these ships would have made the plan financially feasible. They would have brought water to provide food and sustenance to Israelis, Palestinians and Jordanians as well. Today, Israel annually provides more than 80 million cubic meters of water to the Palestinians and 50 million cubic meters of water to the Jordanians, much more than is required by the Oslo Accords. But in May, the Turkish government began demanding that the water be directed toward the Jordanians and Palestinians alone. Then Turkey's deputy foreign minister announced a suspension of all projects with Israel.
2010-06-15 10:44:32Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive