Bullies must not stand in the way of communities benefiting from South African-Israel Cooperation
29 August 2022
The apoplectic response to the visit of an Israeli water delegation to South Africa by anti-Israel groups is sad but expected. The visit organised by JNF-SA (Jewish National Fund of South Africa) included a high-level discussion on the issue of water provision and how expertise and technology from Israel can help solve South Africa’s water challenges. It also formed part of a series of meetings with senior government officials at municipalities in Gauteng and around the country, exploring further partnership opportunities between Israel and South Africa.
Israel is well known as an arid and hot country that had no other choice but to create innovative solutions to its persistent water problems. As a result, they have developed a host of technologies to help address the issues including leak detection, wastewater recycling, drip irrigation, and desalination, all of which have applications in the South African context.
To cite just one example, Israel's water reuse rate is at over 87%, the highest in the world. As Dr Lipchin, a delegation member, said, “a key element in Israel’s water success is the creation of non-conventional water sources such as recycled water and desalination”. South Africa is falling behind in water recycling and reuse. Over 80% of South Africa’s water is not recycled. This is far below the global average. For the future of our country, South Africans are increasingly looking to partner with Israel, which has decades of experience in this field.
In a refreshing change from the usual unproductive approach taken by Minister Naledi Pandor of DIRCO (Department of International Relations and Cooperation) and her cheerleaders amongst anti-Israel groups, the visit generated a lot of enthusiasm. It showed that government officials who are in touch with the needs of South Africans are ready to use opportunities provided by Israel that better the lives of all.
Anti-Israel groups attempted to bully elective officials and prevent them from attending meetings using threats on social media and other forums. Having failed at this attempt, these antisemitic, anti-Israel groups have had to resort to issuing false claims about Israel’s water technology, including trying to smear the Jewish National Fund (JNF) that hosted the delegation.
The JNF is an organisation that is more than a century old and has worked during that time to lawfully raise money and buy land to develop its full potential. This has included planting a remarkable 260 million trees and developing resources to preserve scarce water. This model of community-supported land development has been an essential ingredient in the afforestation journey of Israel over the last 100 hundred years and it is exciting that its expertise can be shared here in South Africa.
The claim that Israel’s water success is built on the backs of Palestinian supplies is objectively absurd. Israel's extensive use of non-conventional water sources, such as recycled water, helps increase water supply capacity by definition and cannot come at the expense of the Palestinians. The use of technology such as wastewater treatment is increasingly being used to help foster cooperation with Bedouin, Jordanian and Palestinian communities. The use of conventional water supplies, such as rivers, is governed by the Oslo Accords agreements with the Palestinians with which Israel fully complies.
Water is a shared resource and a challenge that needs universal collaboration regardless of political or ideological differences if it is managed successfully. Solving our water problems, not only positively impacts South Africa’s prosperity, but can also be a means of bringing successful cooperation in the Middle East.
Dylan Stein is a researcher at the South African Zionist Federation
