Israel still has not received a reply to its request to the United States, made several months ago, for a special loan to finance a nation-wide water project, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said today. He added he understood the request was still under study by the U. S. State Department.
The undisclosed sum requested by Israel was to be used for a water program designed to be integrated into a regional water plan along the lines of the never-implemented Johnston plan for the Jordan Valley, if and when such a plan was put into effect.
It was learned meanwhile that Jordan, which has consistently rejected the regional water plan, was proceeding with an independent Yarmuk River project. This involved preparation of a new bed for the river and the possibility of diversion of Yarmuk River water from Israel settlements in the Jordan valley.
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