«Israel» Threatens to Cut Off Water to Jordan If Amman
Terminates Land Lease
By Staff, Agencies
Al-Ahed News,
November 2019
The “Israeli” entity has threatened to cut off water to
Jordan in response to King Abdullah II’s decision to end the
lease of two areas of land to the Tel Aviv regime.
Gilad Sharon, the son of former “Israeli” Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon, warned in an article he penned for the
“Israeli” Ynet news website that Jordanians “will feel the
thirst” if Amman proceeds with the king's decision to end the
lease, which was agreed under a bilateral peace deal signed
almost a quarter of a century ago.
“Diplomacy is a delicate matter, so the Jordanian king
should be told very gently: If you push ‘Israeli’ farmers out of
Naharayim and Zofar, you will remain thirsty," Sharon wrote.
"Not Abdullah personally, in the palace, he will, of
course, continue to serve chilled mineral water in glass bottles
covered with dew beads…But the people of the kingdom will feel
the thirst,” he added.
According to the peace treaty inked by Jordan and the
“Israeli” entity on October 26, 1994, the two territories of
Baqoura [Naharayim] and Ghamr [Zofar] were leased to the entity
for a 25-year renewable period.
Under the agreement, the lease is automatically
renewable unless either side gives a year’s notice to terminate
it.
The deal allowed the Tel Aviv regime and “Israeli”
farmers to use the two areas in the fertile Jordan Valley –
which are recognized Jordanian territory.
In exchange, the “Israeli” entity agreed to supply
Jordan, which is suffering from a severe water crisis, with 45
million cubic meters of water every year.
In recent years, the number has increased to around 55
million cubic meters.
In October 2018, King Abdullah II said Amman has
already notified the entity that it will not extend the lease,
stressing that the two border areas “are Jordanian land and will
remain” part of the Arab country.
“Baqoura and Ghamr are Jordanian lands and will remain
Jordanian and we will exercise full sovereignty over our
territory,” the King said as he announced the decision.
“In such difficult regional circumstances, our
priorities are to protect our interests and do everything that
is necessary for Jordan and Jordanians,” he added.
The decision came amid growing public pressure for
Jordan to reclaim the lands.
Activist and politicians have said the renewal of the
treaty would be humiliating and perpetuates “Israeli”
"occupation" of Jordanian territory. Such criticism prompted
demonstrations in Amman last year, where protesters demanded the
restoration of the two territories.
King Abdullah’s II decision was met with exuberance
from Jordanians, for whom the peace treaty has become deeply
unpopular over the entity’s reluctance to follow through on
water-sharing agreements, restrictions on Jordanian trade with
the West Bank, and most of all what many see as a violent
occupation of Palestinian territory and the denial of basic
rights and self-determination to Palestinians.
At the time, “Israeli” so-called Agriculture Minister
Uri Ariel threatened that water supplies to Amman would be
reduced from four to two days a week if Jordan terminated the
agreement of the 1994 peace treaty.
The “Israeli” entity and Jordan have maintained
diplomatic relations since they signed the so-called 1994 peace
treaty. However, many Jordanians strongly oppose Amman ties with
Tel Aviv.
“Israeli” mission in Amman was shot down following an
incident in July 2017, when two Jordanians were gunned down by
an embassy guard, prompting the return of the “Israeli”
ambassador along with the killer to the occupied territories.
