In February 2007, the Peres Center, together with Green Cross International and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, launched a new project entitled "Water for Peace in the Middle East, Defining Water Needs for Fully Exploited Resources: A Necessary Step for Israeli-Palestinian Reconciliation". The study, which is being undertaken by Palestinian and Israeli researchers, seeks to define the water needs that should be considered in future Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

 

The study will not identify precise allocations of water for each side, but rather, will serve as a tool for regional and international decision-makers, assisting them inconsidering the implications of different scenarios and policy options.

 

Within the framework of this initiative, in May 2008, the Peres Center, in cooperation with Green Cross France, Green Cross Switzerland and the Jerusalem Institute for Israeli Studies, held a conference in which some 30 experts from Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Europe and the United States conducted a joint analysis of present water needs and availability in this region. In contrast to previous studies which have focused on the existing inequitable water distribution and current consumption patterns, the study addresses basic domestic needs as well as the need for social and economic development in the field of water. Nidal Salim, President of the Geneva Institute for Water, Environment and Health (GIWEH), stated that "this study makes a solidly based discussion in line with reality possible about the sharing of water between Palestine and Israel, so that the needs of both sides can be met." This groundbreaking study is unique in that Palestinians and Israelis are working together to outline pertinent water issues, and in this vein, the Peres Center is presenting proposals regarding the more efficient use of the scarce resource of water by both sides. The results of the research will be disseminated among senior policy- and decision-makers, with the study already gaining the support of President of Israel Shimon Peres, Prime Minister of Israel Ehud Olmert, and former Chairman of the Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) Fadel Ka'wash.