Not two years after the government decided to increase Israel's water desalination capacity, Israel's IDE Technologies and Bank Leumi have been selected to construct a new facility in the Soreq industrial zone. Some believe that American pressure kept Israel from choosing any of the Chinese companies that submitted bids, arguing that price is not the only factor in the decision-making process.
Two weeks ago, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Israel for an urgent visit. During the few hours he spent in Israel, he met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Prime Minister-designate Benny Gantz. Aside from defense and security issues, Pompeo hinted at American reservations about China's growing involvement in Israel, such as the construction of the Tel Aviv light rail system.
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In an interview to Israel Hayom prior to his arrival, Pompeo criticized the Chinese for their handling of the coronavirus crisis. However, both sides deny that this had anything to do with the bid for the desalination plant.
IDE submitted a bid that priced a cube of desalinated water at 1.45 shekels (40 US cents), which is lower than the current lowest price per cube of desalinated water. That reduced price would save the Israeli economy some NIS 3.3 billion ($940 million) while the plant is active. The Soreq 2 plant, which has the capacity to produce 200 million cubic meters of desalinated water per year, is expected to be the largest facility of its kind in the world and increase Israel's desalination capacity by 35%.
An interministerial committee on water desalination in the Treasury announced the winning bid on Tuesday.
Finance Minister Israel Katz said, "I congratulate the committee and the accountant general on their quick, professional work. The new desalination facility will increase the amount of water available and save a huge amount on water costs."
Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said he was "proud to hand over the water sector to [Water Resources] Minister Ze'ev Elkin in excellent shape. Two years ago, I got the government to pass a revolutionary plan to handle future droughts, and as part of that I decided to double the desalination target for 2030. The desalination plant project, which starts today, is the result of that plan being implemented."
Elkin noted that "completing the tender and embarking on the construction of a new desalination plant in Soreq is a historic event for the Israeli economy. Israel is once again proving to be the world's leading technological power in the field of water resources and the new scanner facility will be the largest of its kind in the world."
