Water fiasco: How dangerous is the crisis - and is the Sea of Galilee enough in an emergency?

A technical malfunction in the desalination treatment chain has exposed Israel's dependence on seawater, which provides about 80% of its drinking water. Farmers in the south and north have been left without regular water, and the crops that have withered are expected to raise prices for consumers. Meanwhile, the Sea of Galilee's water level is dropping, and criticism of the water agreement with Jordan is rising again.

A technical malfunction in the desalination treatment chain has exposed Israel's near-total dependence on Mediterranean seawater, which supplies about 80% of its drinking water. The crisis, which began about two weeks ago, caught the country unprepared, causing taps to be shut off and water pressure to drop in the pipes. Farmers in the south and north were hit first and hardest: entire orchards were left without regular water, and the crops that withered in the fields caused heavy losses expected to raise prices for consumers. Meanwhile, the Sea of Galilee's water level is dropping alarmingly, and the flow of water into it has diminished. Against this backdrop, criticism is rising again of the 1994 peace agreement, which obligates Israel to transfer about 100 million cubic meters of water per year to Jordan. The article asks whether the Sea of Galilee alone can save Israel in an emergency, or whether a fundamental overhaul of the country's water-security concept is needed.