The Cabinet gave its approval today to the “sea-to-sea” canal project a much-mooted idea that would provide hydro-electric power from a canal to be dug from the Mediterranean to the Dead Sea. The Cabinet decision is to favor a route from Katif in the Gaza Strip to near Masada. Other proposals were for more northerly routes.
Prof. Yuval Neeman, the leading scientist who has been closely involved in the drafting of the proposals, said after the meeting he believed work could begin within three years. The Cabinet reportedly estimated that the project will cost some $750 million.
According to Haaretz, U.S., European and Israeli businessmen have expressed interest in participating in financing the project — in return for rights to the electric power to be generated. The Cabinet resolved to set up a special inter-ministerial authority that will be responsible for all the technical, financial and political aspects of this major endeavor.
Energy Minister Yitzhak Modai confirmed this evening that overseas investors had already shown interest in the canal project. He said the canal would not need Jordan’s assent, since Jordan’s rights and interests in the Dead Sea would not be affected. But if Jordan wished to cooperate, it, too, could benefit from the canal, the Minister said.
He estimated that the canal project would take up to a decode to complete and that when completed, it could save Israel more than $1 billion annually in energy outlay. Neeman said the project would have many benefits for Israel, including the possibility of building solar energy ponds similar to the one Israel inaugurated by the Dead Sea last year. The waters could also be used to feed cooling plants for industries along its route. He also said the canal will save the Dead Sea.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
