Israel steals 1600 million cubic meters of Arab waters annually
Regional-Israel, Economics, 9/5/2000

A Jordanian study about the water crisis in the Arab states said that the total water budget of the Arab home lands is less than 300 billion cubic meters. The study added that if this budget is to be divided on the current population of the Arab states, estimated at 250 million, each Arab citizen will have 1,000 cubic meters per year while the average share of individual in the world is 13,000 cubic meters representing 13 folds of the share of one Arab citizen.

The study which was prepared by researcher Muhammad Samhan said that the amounts of household needs of water which is now 12 billion cubic meters will increase to ten folds after 25 years, while agricultural needs for water is 300 million cubic meters and will increase to 450 million also after 25 years. A matter which means that the Arab home lands needs of water in the year 2025 will reach 500 billion cubic meters annually.

The study which talks about the Arab water crisis from a political perspective said that Israel steals 1600 million cubic meters of the Arab waters estimated at US $ 8 billion while Turkey controls half of the waters of the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers. The study made its clear that Israel did not confine itself to stealing Arab waters but also claiming rights to the Arab waters. It added that Israel's greed was not limited to projects offered to divide the waters of the Jordan river ( according to peace agreements with Jordan) but is also stealing the waters of the Jordan river from its springs in the Golan, as well as the waters of al-Yarmouk river and took its waters outside its basin and thereby violating all international laws and charters concerned.

The study stressed that the amounts of Arab waters stolen by Israel annually and is estimated at 1600 million cubic meters is equal to the amounts of waters all Arab Gulf states desalinize annually.

The study added " if we do estimate the amounts of waters stolen by Israel illegally from the Palestinians, the Jordanians, the Syrians and the Lebanese at its production costs through the desalinization operation of the sea waters in the Arab Gulf where cost of producing one cubic meter of this water ( desalinizing ) is five US $ we find out that this is equal to US $ 400 million of the waters of the West bank and Gaza, which is the cost of producing 800 million cubic meters, as well as 4,000 million US $ from the Jordan river waters, which is the cost to producing 800 million cubic meters which Israel also plunders from the Jordan river.

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