Water diplomacy in action
by Gidon Bromberg
In a region shaped by conflict and division, EcoPeace Middle East offers a compelling alternative: cooperation through environmental diplomacy. For over three decades, this Israeli-Palestinian-Jordanian organisation has been championing one of the region’s most vital and politically charged issues – water.
Founded in 1994, EcoPeace stands as a rare model of regional collaboration. With offices in Tel Aviv, Ramallah and Amman, and a team comprised equally of Israelis, Palestinians and Jordanians, EcoPeace has turned the notion of creating healthy environmental interdependence into a practical and strategic foundation for regional peacebuilding.
The Middle East faces a mounting water crisis driven by conflict, climate change, population growth, pollution, mismanagement, and competition for scarce water. Jordan, one of the most water-poor countries in the world, has seen its per capita water availability fall below 100 cubic meters per year; well short of the UN’s threshold of absolute scarcity. In Palestine, communities face intermittent supply and inadequate infrastructure, with the resolution of water issues often held hostage to the conflict. And while Israel leads in water technology, natural resources such as the Jordan River and the Dead Sea are in severe ecological decline.
What unites the region is also what threatens it: water sources which cross borders. The Jordan River flows through all three countries. Aquifers stretch beneath multiple political boundaries. Pollution and over-extraction on one side affect communities on the other. EcoPeace’s core insight is simple but powerful: environmental challenges transcend borders, and so must solutions.
EcoPeace’s work is grounded in the idea that environmental cooperation can open political pathways otherwise blocked by mistrust or stagnation. The organisation operates on three integrated tracks: regional advocacy and diplomacy; implementing tangible, community-based cross-border projects, such as joint sewage treatment facilities and water and energy exchanges; and grassroots education, focused on youth and young professionals from communities across the region.
One of EcoPeace’s most influential proposals is the “water-energy nexus”, a comprehensive framework for regional climate resilience. The initiative integrates water security with renewable energy cooperation, proposing an interdependent model where each party contributes and benefits:
- Jordan, with vast deserts, could produce and export large-scale solar energy;
- Israel and Palestine, with access to the Mediterranean, and for Israel advanced desalination capacity could export freshwater to Jordan;
- and, through mutual agreements, all three parties would secure what they lack creating a sustainable and stable exchange.
This innovative vision began to materialise in 2021 and 2022 with the signing of memoranda of understanding between Israel and Jordan on a water-for-energy deal called “Project Prosperity”, facilitated by the UAE and supported by the US. Although implementation remains at an early stage, these agreements mark a major breakthrough in regional environmental diplomacy.
Building on the water-energy exchange, EcoPeace has recently advanced a new framework known as the “IMEC Peace Triangle”, which is connected to the emerging India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC). EcoPeace’s vision is to ensure that this economic initiative promotes peace rather than deepens inequalities. We advocate for IMEC to be grounded in sustainable, inclusive, and cooperative water and energy infrastructure that benefits all – Israelis, Jordanians and Palestinians.
The “IMEC Peace Triangle” includes three catalytic projects:
First, a regional water-energy exchange. EcoPeace proposes integrating Palestine into an expanded “Project Prosperity”. The goal is to construct a large desalination plant in Gaza to serve both Palestinian and Jordanian water needs in addition to the desalination planned for Jordan on the Israeli coast.
Second, renewable energy exports. Harnessing the abundant solar and wind resources of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan to enable large-scale exports of renewable energy through electricity and green hydrogen to Europe.
Studies undertaken by EcoPeace indicate that the Middle East could supply up to one-third of the electricity needs of southern and central European countries, from Greece to Germany. EcoPeace proposes adding Gaza as an energy export hub alongside existing plans for energy exports from Israel and Egypt.
Third, an electrified rail network. Research undertaken by EcoPeace suggests that a renewable energy-powered rail network linking the Gulf to the Mediterranean could be 40 percent faster in moving container traffic from India to Europe than alternative commercial routes such as the Suez canal.
EcoPeace proposes transforming Jordan into a central transport hub, where the planned railway will split – north towards Haifa and south to a port in Gaza. There is also the possibility of it running to Syria and Lebanon. Just as Antwerp, Rotterdam and Hamburg serve as major European trade ports, Haifa, Gaza and Beirut could serve as key Gulf ports from the Middle East to Europe, creating mutual economic and security benefits.
EcoPeace believes that IMEC can be transformed from an economic infrastructure project into a platform for inclusive regional cooperation that also advances security, climate resilience and peace. The “IMEC Peace Triangle” is thus not just about infrastructure, it is also about creating conditions for peace through mutual investment and healthy interdependence.
Another flagship EcoPeace campaign has been the effort to rehabilitate the lower Jordan River, once a vital waterway that has been reduced to a polluted trickle due to conflict, overuse and sewage dumping. Progress has been slow but visible. Israeli authorities have begun allocating more freshwater to the river, and joint monitoring and restoration efforts have gained international attention. EcoPeace has framed the river not only as an ecological crisis zone, but as a shared asset that can support economic development, tourism and regional cooperation.
What sets EcoPeace apart is its ability to connect local realities with global priorities. It speaks the language of diplomacy, economic development and climate security – all while keeping its feet firmly planted in the experience of communities who depend on every drop of water.
EcoPeace’s youth engagement strategy is not a side project; it is central to its vision. Through environmental education, inter-community dialogues and youth-led campaigns, the organisation is creating a new generation of environmental diplomats. These young leaders are often the first in their families to engage with peers from the “other side”. They emerge from the experience with greater understanding, respect and a practical sense of what cooperation looks like on the ground. After participating in the programmes, the percentage of people who recognise the importance of regional cooperation on environmental issues jumps from 57 percent to 96 percent across all countries. In a region marked by political volatility and deep mistrust, this human infrastructure may prove just as vital as pipes and solar panels.
The work of EcoPeace demonstrates that sustainable development, when pursued collaboratively, can be a force for stability and peace. It also challenges the international community to rethink how it supports the region: not only through humanitarian aid or security measures, but by investing in shared infrastructure, long-term partnerships and grassroots cooperation.
The challenges are immense, but so is the opportunity. Water can divide – or it can unite. EcoPeace is betting on the latter.
Gidon Bromberg is Israel director of EcoPeace
