Realizing Herzl's pipe dream

What do Zionism's founder Theodor Herzl, National Infrastructures Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer (Fuad) and businessman Yitzhak Tshuva have in common? They share a dream of reviving the Dead Sea. The idea is simple: Build a canal channeling sea water into the Dead Sea; raise the water level of the lowest water surface on earth and save it from disappearing - something which experts predict may happen in just a few years.

The plans for the Peace Channel, or as it was previously known, the Seas Canal, are expected to be presented today at a special World Bank conference in Jordan; there will be a review of the economic feasibility of the project's current incarnation.

Among those attending the conference are National Infrastructures Minister Ben-Eliezer, Jordanian Minister of Water and Irrigation Zafer Alem, the representative of the Palestinian Authority chairman, Dr. Muhammad Mustafa, World Bank representatives and representatives of donor countries. The project, with an estimated cost of around $3-4 billion, will be joint venture by Israel, Jordan and the PA.
Theodor Herzl, the founder of Zionism, originally proposed the idea in 1902 in his book, "Altneuland." Herzl envisioned digging a canal that would bring water from the Mediterranean Sea to the Dead Sea, an idea based on the substantial differences in elevation between the two seas. The objective: to at once preserve the Dead Sea and use the flow of water to generate electricity. Herzl based the idea on a plan formulated by engineer Max Bourcart in 1899, which detailed the digging of a canal that would channel water from the Mediterranean Sea through the Jezreel Valley, the Beit She'an Valley and the Jordan River, ultimately to the Dead Sea.

The plan, slightly altered, was promoted several decades after the establishment of the state by a series of public figures, including Prof. Yuval Ne'eman and former energy minister Yitzhak Moda'i. In the 1980s, three alternatives to the project were considered and, in 1981, the original canal plan was approved, whereby the water would be channeled through a tunnel from the sea near Ashkelon, via the northern Negev, to the Dead Sea.

The cornerstone for the project was even laid and during the ceremony, then prime minister, Menachem Begin, declared the taming of the desert. Then several hundred meters of the canal were dug. However, the project was abandoned in 1985.

In its current incarnation, the plan was promoted during the 1990s peace process by then foreign minister Shimon Peres and then energy minister Moshe Shahal. According to the plans, the canal would originate in the Gulf of Eilat, wind to the Jordanian side of the border to the highest point in the Be'er Menuha region, Faran, where the water would then flow toward the Dead Sea, utilizing the approximately 600-meter difference in elevation. The length of the canal on the Jordanian side would be approximately 180 kilometers, of which 134 kilometers would be covered.

The project is intended to channel hundreds of millions of cubic liters of water from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea annually, desalinate water for Jordan and the PA, and generate electricity for Israel, Jordan and the Palestinians.

At the starting point, in the southern Dead Sea region, plans call for the world's largest desalination facility which will produce around 800 million cubic liters a year. The surplus water would be channeled into the Dead Sea, in an attempt to halt the decline in its water level. In addition, along the route of the canal, there are plans to build a hydroelectric power station that would use the elevation differences between the Red Sea and the Dead Sea to produce 800 megawatts of electricity.

National Infrastructure Ministry officials say the importance of the canal to the Israelis is very high given that as a result of the exploitation by Jordan, Syria and Israel of water sources that feed the Dead Sea, the Dead Sea's water level has dropped at a rate of 80-100 centimeters annually. The declining water level, apart from the direct impact on the Dead Sea's receding shoreline, increases the phenomenon of sinkholes.

So far, countless claims have been made for and against the project - economic, ecological, environmental and political - and the ambitious (perhaps overly ambitious) project has yet to begin. However, National Infrastructures Minister Ben-Eliezer, who has taken the Peace Channel project under his wing, is not particularly concerned. "Our grandchildren will not forgive us if in a few decades the Dead Sea continues to recede. This is a natural wonder that is important not only to Israel, but to the entire Middle East and the whole world. The Peace Channel project is the flagship project of the National Infrastructures Ministry and will lead to regional and economic cooperation with our Jordanian colleagues in the areas of energy, water and agriculture. Regional development is an important step in promoting the political process." Ben-Eliezer says that he expects a breakthrough in confidence-building gestures between Israel and the neighboring Arab countries. "The project is a top priority for the Jordanian kingdom, as well, and King Abdullah has in the past said he considers it of the utmost importance to promote this project too," says Ben-Eliezer.

The World Bank will conduct a study of the project's feasibility. It is expected to take two years and will eventually review five elements: the environmental impact on the Gulf of Eilat resulting from the pumping of sea water; the environmental impact of the canal on the Arava wadi; the feasibility of building a Red Sea water desalination facility on the shores of the Dead Sea - primarily to meet the needs of Jordan and the PA; the feasibility of building a hydroelectric power station; the impact on the Dead Sea's water quality as a result of mixing Red Sea water with Dead Sea water.

Thus far, the World Bank has raised $9 million of the $15 million needed for the study. The money was donated by Japan, the United States, France and the Netherlands, and recently there have been advanced talks with Sweden, Spain, Britain and Germany, which are also interested in being included in the donor group.

Not long ago, the project received a boost from an unexpected direction. Businessman Yitzhak Tshuva recently said in New York that he had a dream and really hoped he would be able to realize it: to build a canal from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea. This water would be desalinated and made potable. "In my assessment, it is possible to desalinate one billion cubic milliliters of water annually. This quantity would be sufficient to make the entire Negev bloom and turn it into a green area. Millions of residents could be settled in the Negev. The canal would also generate electricity to supply the Negev's needs. On both sides of the canal, there will be promenades and hotels, along the entire length from Red Sea to the Dead Sea. Furthermore, it will be possible to strengthen the relationship between us and the Jordanians and Palestinians, because they will also benefit from the water, electricity and economic growth. I met with Shimon Peres and others to discuss this common dream. These are not pipe dreams."

By Sharon Kedmi