Jordan and Israel signed here Thursday an agreement to implement the first phase of the Red Sea-Dead Sea project to jointly build a desalination plant north of Aqaba, Jordan, in presence of representatives from the World Bank and the U.S.
The agreement was jointly signed by Jordanian Minister of Water and Irrigation Hazem Nasser and Israeli Minister of Regional Development Silvan Shalom, water and irrigation ministry's spokesman Omar Salama stated to KUNA.
The full-fledged agreement is the result of a MoU signed between Israeli, Jordanian, and Palestinian officials on December 9, 2013 in Washington, D.C, Minister Nasser said in a statement following signing the agreement.
According to the agreement, Jordan and Israel are to share the potable water produced by a future desalination plant in Aqaba, from which salty brines will be piped to the Dead Sea, said the Jordanian Minister.
In return for its portion of the desalinated water in the South, Israel will be doubling its sales of Lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) water to Jordan on the countries' northern border, he added.