VZCZCXRO6409
PP RUEHROV
DE RUEHTV #4853/01 3491423
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 151423Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8233
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TEL AVIV 004853 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV ECON PREL EAID EPET JO IS
SUBJECT: ISRAEL-JORDAN ENVIRONMENTAL AND RELATED COOPERATION 
 
REF: AMMAN 7727 
 
 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED -- PLEASE HANDLE ACCORDINGLY. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: The Israeli Ministry of Environmental 
Protection welcomes cooperation and exchange with Jordan's 
Green Police.  The GOI also welcomes the upcoming World Bank 
feasibility study of the proposed Red Sea-Dead Sea water 
conveyance project.  Two kibbutzim have helped the GOI 
fulfill treaty obligations with Jordan by starting to treat 
their sewage before it enters the Jordan River.  Israel and 
Jordan have completed ten years of cooperation in the Gulf of 
Aqaba with a recent oil spill exercise.  They are also 
working to increase cooperation in flood control north of the 
Gulf.  In addition, there are initiatives in industrial 
innovation and hi-tech economic development.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) NEA Senior S&T Advisor Charles Lawson visited Israel 
for a series of meetings with GOI officials and others 
November 5-8 to discuss issues related to water, environment 
and regional cooperation.  This message reports on related 
areas of Israeli-Jordanian cooperation.  The Director General 
of the Infrastructure Ministry told Lawson that the GOI is 
strongly in favor of the World Bank feasibility study for the 
Red Sea-Dead Sea water conveyance project.  Lawson conveyed 
Government of Jordan interest in developing between Jordanian 
and Israeli police forces involved in environmental 
enforcement activities.  The Director General of the GOI 
Ministry of Environmental Protection welcomed the Jordanian 
interest.  MOE will make direct contact with Jordanian 
counterparts, coordinating with the GOI Ministry of Interior 
and other government bodies as necessary. 
 
¶3. (SBU) An MFA official responsible for regional water 
issues told Lawson that two kibbutzim on the Lower Jordan 
River had recently begun treating their sewage, improving the 
quality of runoff into the river.  The official was not aware 
of any corresponding recent improvements in sewage treatment 
on the Jordanian side.  Both countries committed to treatment 
of sewage flowing into the Jordan in the water provisions of 
their bilateral peace treaty. 
 
¶4. (SBU) At the local level, a senior Israeli environmental 
attorney in private practice told Lawson that the 
jurisdictions of Eilat and Aqaba and regional development and 
drainage authorities are discussing how to improve flood 
control in the lower Arava Valley.  This follows extensive 
damage on the Israeli side and reports of deaths from 
flooding on the Jordanian side earlier this year.  The two 
countries' water authorities are becoming engaged on this 
issue as well. 
 
¶5. (SBU) An official of the Negev and Galilee Development 
Ministry told Lawson that Shimon Peres is working on 
development options for the Lower Jordan Valley that would 
provide jobs in software engineering and other hi-tech 
enterprises for Jordanians as well as Israelis.  The Israeli 
executive director of the U.S. Israel Binational Industrial 
Research and Development Foundation (BIRD) met with Lawson to 
discuss current efforts to carry out a second pilot grant 
round of the Trilateral Industrial Development (TRIDE) 
initiative, involving U.S.-Israeli-Jordanian partnerships in 
industrial innovation.  The BIRD director is working with 
Jordanian counterparts to identify teams of Israeli and 
Jordanian companies that can then seek American partners to 
present proposals for TRIDE grants. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Subsequent to Lawson's visit, ESTH Officer 
participated as an observer November 15 at a joint 
Israeli-Jordanian oil spill containment and cleanup drill in 
the Gulf of Aqaba.  Both countries have very professional 
teams at their respective Eilat and Aqaba emergency response 
centers and each has an officer seconded to the other's 
center.  The Israeli response center is able to provide 
real-time readings on temperature, wind, and currents - 
collected by an Israeli maritime institute - to Jordanian 
counterparts.  The two sides now have ten years experience 
working together in drills and on actual spills.  The only 
glitch in the drill was that the possibly overly cautious GOI 
MOE security officer did not permit the Israeli participants 
to visit the Jordanian center for an after-action review, 
although the Jordanian team had visited the Israeli response 
center in recent months.  Two GOI MOE officials participated 
in a limited after-action review on a boat on the water on 
the Jordanian side of the Gulf. 
 
¶7. (U) NEA Senior S&T Advisor Lawson cleared this message. 
 
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