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DE RUEHTV #2323/01 2081253
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O 271253Z JUL 07 ZDS
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2537
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS BE PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 TEL AVIV 002323 
 
SIPDIS 
 
C O R R E C T E D  C O P Y ((ADDING CAPTION & PASSING INSTRUCTIONS)) 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE; NEA/IPA FOR WILLIAMS/SHAMPAINE/BELGRADE; 
NEA/RA FOR LAWSON; PRM FOR PDAS GREENE AND PRM/ANE; NSC FOR ABRAMS/ 
WATERS; TREASURY FOR SZUBIN/LOEFFLER/NUGENT/HIRSON; BRUSSELS FOR 
LERNER; 
 
PLEASE PASS TO USAID FOR KUNDER/MCCLOUD/BORODIN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID ECON SENV KBIO KWBG IS
SUBJECT: JUMP STARTING PALESTINIAN-ISRAELI COOPERATION ON 
WATER 
 
REF: A. A. 2006 TEL AVIV 4741 
     ¶B. B. JERUSALEM 509 
 
TEL AVIV 00002323  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
 ¶1.   (U) This is a joint cable of the Embassy in Tel Aviv 
and the Consulate General in Jerusalem. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Summary:  In the wake of the formation of Prime 
Minister Salam Fayyad,s Palestinian Authority, the 
U.S.-Palestinian-Israeli Trilateral Water Working Group 
(TWWG) met on July 19 for the first time in almost two years. 
 Discussions centered around two issues: 1) the emergency 
water needs of the Palestinians; and 2) the need for longer 
term joint strategic planning to help ensure adequate water 
supplies for the future.  The Palestinian team focused most 
of their comments on the emergency needs, noting that many 
WB/G water projects have been awaiting approval in the 
bilateral Joint Water Committee for up to several years.  The 
Israeli team, while acknowledging the immediate Palestinians 
needs, also noted the need for a more strategic focus on the 
longer term needs to help ensure adequate, sustainable water 
supplies for the future.  The TWWG agreed to hold a working 
level meeting in three weeks to follow up on both the 
immediate and longer term issues.  Both the Palestinian and 
Israelis teams urged the USG to re-start its substantial 
water sector assistance program, which, until it was put on 
hold when Hamas took over the PA, had done an outstanding job 
in improving Palestinian access to water and improving 
Palestinian management of it water resources.  By all 
measures, this TWWG meeting provided an important jump start 
to what had been a dynamic and important mechanism for 
supporting Israeli-Palestinian cooperation on water issues. 
End summary. 
 
Background and Introduction 
--------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The TWWG was established under the 1995 
Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement to support the work of 
the bilateral Israeli-Palestinian Joint Water Committee (JWC) 
and assist the parties to implement the agreement,s water 
provisions.  Dr. Charles Lawson, NEA Senior Advisor for 
Science and Technology, leads the U.S. team (which includes 
Embassy, ConGen and USAID officers), Eng. Fadel Ka,awash, 
Director, Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) leads the 
Palestinian team, and Dr. Uri Shani, Director, Israeli 
National Water and Sewage Authority (INWSA) leads the Israeli 
team.  Up until March 2006 when Hamas took over the PA, the 
TWWG had met on average two to three times a year since 1995. 
 The TWWG last met on September 22, 2005 (a February 2006 
meeting was canceled when Hamas won the Palestinian 
elections).  Over the years, the TWWG proved itself to be a 
very useful and productive mechanism for facilitating 
progress on the USAID water sector assistance program for the 
Palestinians and facilitating discussions on broader water 
issues between senior Israeli and Palestinian water 
officials, even when there was little or no dialogue between 
the political leaders (such as during the second Intifada). 
 
Opening Remarks 
--------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) In his opening remarks, U.S. Chair Lawson emphasized 
the USG,s desire in restarting the TWWG mechanism to support 
Israeli-Palestinian cooperation on water issues.  He noted 
that it is in the interests of all the three TWWG parties to 
do what they can in the water sector to bolster President 
Abbas, PM Fayyad, and the Palestinian Authority during this 
crucial initial period of the new PA.  In that regard, Lawson 
asked the Palestinian and Israeli teams to work together to 
develop a list of emergency water sector needs and actions 
that could be taken by one or more of the TWWG parties (and 
other donors) that would have immediate, positive, 
on-the-ground impacts for Palestinian populations.  Lawson 
also noted that it would be useful for the two parties to 
provide the U.S. with a list of the longer range water sector 
needs (i.e. larger water infrastructure projects) so that the 
USG would better understand the parties, longer-term 
priority needs.  In their opening remarks, PWA Director 
Ka,awash and INWSA Director Shani both welcomed the 
opportunity to re-start the TWWG and to work with the USG 
again in the water sector for the Palestinians.  They urged 
the USG to re-invigorate its substantial water sector 
assistance program to help ensure that Palestinian water 
needs are met. 
 
Palestinian Water Needs 
----------------------- 
 
 
TEL AVIV 00002323  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Ka,awash reported that the PWA and the INWSA had 
cooperated informally over the last year and a half to 
address emergency water needs in the West Bank and Gaza. 
(Note: During the Hamas-led government, INWSA had GOI 
approval to engage with the PWA on an emergency basis to 
address humanitarian needs.  Given the many emergency 
Palestinian water needs, this led to frequent PWA-INWSA 
contact.  However, no formal JWC meetings were held during 
that time.  End note.)  Ka'awash explained that the PWA had 
approximately 100 water projects still pending Israeli 
approval in the JWC - 90 percent of those being small-scale 
pipe projects to be completed in the span of two or three 
weeks.  Although he praised INWSA-PWA's informal cooperation 
during the last year and a half, Ka,awash noted that donor 
countries have already committed funds to numerous WB/G 
projects that are awaiting Israeli approval. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) In terms of larger projects, Ka'awash emphasized 
the importance of re-starting the Hebron wastewater treatment 
project, which the USG had put on hold when Hamas came to 
power.  He also encouraged a joint INWSA-PWA effort to build 
a wastewater treatment plant at the Wadi Nar (also know as 
Wadi Kidron) sewage drain, located between Jerusalem and 
Bethlehem, and requested 
USAID assistance in its construction.  He noted that 
approximately 15-20 million cubic meters of untreated sewage 
- emanating from both Israeli and Palestinian sources - is 
put into the wadi annually (see Ref A for background). 
Regarding Gaza, Ka'awash said that, as a result of the lack 
of modern wastewater treatment facilities, the coastal 
aquifer has been exposed 
to effluent.  He asked that Israeli authorities allow 
shipments of pipes and pumps to pass into Gaza to be used in 
PWA projects such as the Northern Gaza Water Treatment Plant 
(see Ref B).  Ka,awash also requested that the Israelis turn 
over the files on the wells in the former settlement areas of 
Gaza so that the Palestinians could properly utilize them. 
When queried, Ka'awash said that PWA offices in Gaza operate 
free of Hamas involvement and interference.  He went on to 
note that Hamas never tried to interference with PWA 
operations in the West Bank or Gaza after it took power in 
March 2006. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Ka'awash expressed his gratitude to USAID for the 
on-going Beni Naim water project, which is scheduled for 
completion by mid-2008.  With the completion of this project 
(the last of the major USG water supply projects in the 
southern West Bank), the PWA will be able to supply potable 
water to the homes of an estimated 700,000 Hebron-area 
Palestinians, and Ka'awash described the project as essential 
to water delivery in the southern West Bank.  Ka,awash noted 
by mid-2008, when the Beni Naim project is completed, the 
basic water needs (approximately 100-150 liters per person 
per day) of most of the Palestinian population in the 
southern West Bank will be met.  Ka,awash stressed, however, 
that the water shortages in the northern West Bank were much 
more serious and the needs yet unmet.  He asked his Israeli 
partners for help in providing for the water needs of 
Palestinians in the northern West Bank.  (Note:  The water 
problems in the northern West Bank are long standing.  The 
Israelis use most of the water in the aquifer underlying the 
northern West Bank and, thus, are reluctant to allow 
Palestinians greater access to the aquifer, since that would 
mean less water for Israeli consumers.  End note.) 
 
Israeli Perspectives 
-------------------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) INWSA Director Shani noted that water resources are 
scarce in Israel as they are in the entire region, making it 
difficult to provide the Palestinians with significantly more 
water from existing sources.  The Israelis argue that the 
only viable long term solution to regional water scarcity is 
the development of sea water desalinization plants.  Shani 
emphasized that the Israelis have been responding to 
Palestinians water needs based on requests from the PWA, and 
he noted that Mekorot (the Israeli water company) increased 
the quantity of water provided to Palestinians from 43 to 46 
million cubic meters over the last year.  The Israeli team 
stressed that the two parties need to develop a long range 
strategic water plan to ensure adequate and sustainable water 
supplies for the future.  Otherwise, they would always be 
dealing with short term emergency needs.  Ka'awash agreed 
that desalination was a good solution for the long term, but 
he added that towns in the northern West Bank require 
drinking water now - not in the five or so years it would 
take to construct desalinization plants.  (Note:  While the 
need for new water sources is important, Palestinian water 
 
TEL AVIV 00002323  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
officials have been reluctant to engage in detailed 
discussions about the construction of a sea water 
desalination plant to serve the Palestinians, except in the 
context of permanent status negotiations.  They believe that 
to do otherwise might prejudice Palestinian negotiations on 
rights to the existing water resources in the West Bank 
aquifers, whenever they might get back to the negotiating 
table in the future.  End note.) 
 
Wrap Up and Follow Up 
--------------------- 
 
¶9.  (SBU) In concluding the discussion, all three TWWG 
partners agreed on the need to tackle the issues of short 
term, immediate needs and longer term needs simultaneously in 
parallel discussions.  TWWG Chair Lawson requested that the 
Palestinian and Israeli teams meet bilaterally as soon as 
possible to come up with a mutually agreed list of immediate, 
emergency needs and to begin discussions on the longer term 
needs.  Lawson proposed that a working level TWWG meeting be 
held in three weeks - after the parties meet bilaterally - so 
that the Palestinian and Israeli teams could give the 
emergency needs list to the USG and also discuss longer term 
needs. 
 
¶10.  (SBU) Comments:  With its July 19 meeting, the TWWG got 
off to a good start after an almost two year hiatus.  Both 
the Israelis and Palestinians expressed satisfaction with the 
meeting,s outcomes and emphasized their commitment to work 
together on water.  Both parties also were very clear in 
their desire that the USG take on the role it previously 
played as the major donor in the Palestinian water and 
sanitation sector.  End comments. 
 
 
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