A Controversial Water Project

The Reagan Administration expressed its objections Thursday to supplying Israel or Jewish settlements in the West Bank with any water found through a proposed drilling project east of Bethlehem.

An American company, Moriah Energy and Technology Corp., of Englewood, Colorado, plans to drill for the water using untried and expensive methods in an effort to tap an underground sea.

“We have expressed our deep concern to the government of Israel about the project and have asked for more information,” State Department deputy spokesperson Phyllis Oakley said.

“As a general principle, we believe the resources of the territory should be used for the benefit of the Palestinian inhabitants and should not be removed from the territory.”

Oakley added that “we understand some portion of the water would be channeled to Israeli settlements in the occupied territory. Our position on settlements is already on the record.”

The Administration has opposed the establishment of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, maintaining they are unhelpful to the peace process.

Moriah is headed by Gilman Hill, a fundamentalist Christian who plans to finance the project through investors from the United States, presumably fellow fundamentalists. He was quoted in The Washington Post as saying “this project will be difficult to accomplish without a major miracle of God” and that he is engaged in a religious pursuit to provide water for the Holy Land.

The issue of water in the thirsty region has been a major bone of contention since Israel took over the West Bank in 1967. West Bank Arabs have charged that most of the water is being diverted for use in Israel or the Jewish settlements.

The Moriah project is controversial within the Israeli government, but was approved on condition that priority would be given to Arab needs.