A few months later, when they noticed that the water had become brackish, the PA decided to dig again in different places, causing yet further damage to the groundwater. It was this and other damage, on top of the constantly increasing population, that created the severe water shortage that has nothing to do with the settlers or settlements.What a total farce!
Israel, on the other hand, invested enormous effort and resources, as a result of which it managed to mimic nature and create water where there was none before, almost out of a rock. Israel is currently the only country in the world where, despite global warming, the desert is receding. Israel of 2016 no longer pays much attention to the amount of rain that falls since most of its water now comes from its many desalination plants scattered throughout the country.
Here is one example that illustrates the Palestinians’ reluctance to resolve the water problem: When Israel saw that the PA was not going to fulfill its commitments according to the Oslo Accords and establish wastewater treatment plants, Israel built a water reservoir in the city of Ariel designed to address the needs of both populations — Palestinians and Jews — living in the Ariel area. What happened? The water reservoir completed in 2014 stands empty and decrepit. The reason is not engineering or planning failures; nor are issues of budget standing in the way of operating the reservoir. The reason is bureaucratic obstacles and a reluctance on the part of the government to requisition the land needed to lay the water pipe that would bring water from the center of the country to the reservoir in Samaria, for the benefit of both populations.
Incidentally, a few months ago, I approached a number of Arab leaders who live near Efrat and made them a one-time offer: to connect their sewage pipes to the wastewater purification plant located in the Efrat Regional Council. They returned with a negative response: The extremists told them that “they would not allow Arab wastewater to flow next to Jewish wastewater.”
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