Israel allowed a 2021 add-on water deal with Jordan to lapse in November 2025, cutting the eastern neighbor off from an extra 50 million cubic meters of annual supply and conditioning renewal on political steps Amman has not taken. The 1994 peace treaty still obliges Jerusalem to deliver 50 million cubic meters to Amman from Lake Tiberias, but the supplemental volume that had doubled that figure now sits frozen, used as a lever between the two governments.
Ynet reported this week that a UAE-backed proposal would bring Israeli, Jordanian and Emirati energy ministers together in Abu Dhabi to discuss restoring the extra supply and reviving a stalled water-for-energy initiative. The freeze has now run eight months. Both countries have been without ambassadors in each other’s capitals since 2023.
The 50 Million Cubic Meters That Dried Up
The 1994 Israel-Jordan peace treaty commits Israel to send Jordan 50 million cubic meters of water a year from Lake Tiberias, partly offsetting upstream diversions that throttled the lower Jordan River. In 2021, the Bennett-Lapid government agreed on a separate three-year arrangement to send an additional 50 million cubic meters per year, temporarily doubling deliveries to one of the world’s most water-stressed countries. That add-on has now sat frozen for eight months.
Energy Minister Eli Cohen renewed the arrangement every six months through a series of internal debates, with extensions driven partly by US pressure and Jordan’s role in intercepting Iranian drones during regional hostilities. The supplemental deal expired in late 2025 and has not been renewed. Israel did not engage with Jordan’s request for a five-year extension and increase to 80 million cubic meters annually, as documented in why the 2021 water add-on lapsed. The 1994 treaty’s separate 50 million cubic meters continues to flow from Lake Tiberias at a price Israeli officials call symbolic. The freeze is now in its eighth month.
Israeli officials now publicly describe the extra supply as discretionary goodwill rather than a standing commitment, a framing that lets Jerusalem tie renewal to broader political demands. Jordanian officials have privately accused Israel of turning a vital resource into a bargaining chip at a moment of maximum regional vulnerability. Both countries have been without ambassadors in each other’s capitals since 2023. King Abdullah’s public posture, including his refusal to meet Netanyahu, has hardened alongside the freeze.
How Bad the Math Looks in Amman
Jordan sits near the bottom of every global water-stress ranking. Ynet reports an annual deficit of about 500 million cubic meters. The US Commerce Department puts the kingdom’s renewable freshwater at 61 cubic meters per capita per year, with population growth, refugee inflows and chronic drought driving the figure lower.
Three supply streams now compete for Jordan’s attention: the Israeli treaty quota, the expired add-on, and the country’s own National Water Carrier project. The carrier, a major reverse-osmosis desalination and pipeline scheme at Aqaba, is designed to deliver around 300 million cubic meters a year to Amman and other highland cities. It would cover roughly a third of current national water use once operational. With the Israeli add-on frozen, Amman is leaning harder on desalination at home, transfers from Syria’s Yarmouk River, and its joint Disi/Saq fossil-aquifer arrangement with Saudi Arabia.
Public anger over Gaza has hardened resistance to any visible water-for-normalisation trade. The Jerusalem Post reports that upwards of 50% of Jordan’s population is estimated to be of Palestinian origin, a fact that makes the politics unusually sensitive. Any deal that looks like trading water for softened rhetoric runs into immediate domestic blowback.
The table below lays out the three supply streams and where each stands in July 2026. None of the three fully covers the kingdom’s annual deficit on its own.
| Source | Annual volume | Current status |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 peace treaty (Lake Tiberias) | 50 million cubic meters | Continuing |
| 2021 add-on (Bennett-Lapid) | Up to 50 million; Jordan asked for 80 million | Expired late 2025; not renewed |
| Aqaba-Amman National Water Carrier | Around 300 million cubic meters, planned | Financial close being finalised |
Israel’s Case for the Freeze
A senior Israeli official told Ynet that Jerusalem continues to meet its treaty commitments and has no obligation to send more. The official noted that 2025 was Israel’s driest year in a century, and that the government had prioritised refilling domestic reservoirs and supplying local agriculture. “We have no obligation to provide additional quantities,” the official said. “If there is goodwill between the two countries, we can provide the extra water,” the official added.
Cohen’s previous extensions had credited Jordanian help in shooting down Iranian drones during the war as a reason to keep the extra water flowing. The decision to stop came as Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi kept up his public criticism of Israel over the war in Gaza, a posture some Israeli officials framed as incompatible with the goodwill the add-on had been built on. The Israeli position, the Ynet report says, hardens in step with Safadi’s rhetoric.
The Royal Condition and the ‘Stab in the Back’
King Abdullah of Jordan declined repeated requests from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to meet in March, according to Israeli media reports. One of Abdullah’s conditions for sitting down was the renewal of the water agreement. A Jordanian source close to the royal family told Israel’s Kan public broadcaster that water “is a very important issue for us and is part of the peace agreement.”
Public opinion in Jordan did not like Jordan’s support for the United States and Israel in the war against Iran, and now that this news has been published in Jordan, they feel like they have been stabbed in the back. They supported Israel against Iran, and now Israel is returning evil for good. This is another card for those opposed to Israel in Jordan.
The lines came from Dr. Ronen Yitzhak, an Israeli-Jordanian relations expert at the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, in Yitzhak’s ‘stab in the back’ assessment of the freeze. He framed Israeli demands for softer Jordanian public statements as “blackmail.”
Yitzhak warned that any Jordanian concession would be read inside the kingdom as “selling support for Palestinians” for water. He noted that upwards of 50% of Jordan’s population is estimated to be of Palestinian origin, a fact that makes the politics unusually sensitive. The expert argued the disagreement “reflects the political crisis between the countries” but predicted the strategic relationship would hold. “Ultimately, this will not harm the strategic cooperation between the countries,” Yitzhak said. “I assume that behind the scenes, in discreet and secret talks, the issue will be resolved because Israel also has an interest in maintaining the stability of the Jordanian regime.”
The UAE Floats an Abu Dhabi Summit
The UAE is promoting a trilateral energy summit in Abu Dhabi that would bring together the Israeli, Jordanian and Emirati energy ministers, according to Ynet’s reporting on the UAE-brokered proposal. The Emirati role, one Israeli official said, is to provide an “umbrella of goodwill” that could restart cooperation. Jordanian officials have made clear that renewal of the add-on is a precondition for any King Abdullah-Netanyahu meeting, the Times of Israel reported.
The original Israel-Jordan-UAE water-and-energy deal was first sketched in a 2021 declaration of intent signed by all three governments. The framework called for Israel to build a desalination plant supplying Jordan with water and Jordan to build a solar plant supplying electricity to both countries, as detailed in the Israel-Jordan-UAE water-and-energy deal framework. If the Abu Dhabi meeting takes place, the talks would cover water, energy and the bilateral relationship in a single package. Israeli officials have said the freeze “will not harm strategic cooperation” and that quieter channels are still moving. Both countries’ ambassadors have been out of post since 2023, leaving lower-level staff to carry day-to-day diplomacy.
- Renewing the 50 million cubic meters add-on that expired in November 2025
- Reviving a 200-million-cubic-meter Israel-to-Jordan desalination pipeline
- Building a 600 MW Jordanian solar plant exporting power to Israel
- Restarting bilateral ties after both countries recalled ambassadors in late 2023
- Setting a date for the long-delayed trilateral summit itself
Jordan’s Pivot to the Red Sea
Even as the diplomacy plays out, Amman is finalising what its government calls the National Water Carrier: the Aqaba-Amman Water Desalination and Conveyance project. The plant is designed to deliver around 300 million cubic meters a year through a large reverse-osmosis facility on the Red Sea. The scheme is backed by the Green Climate Fund and development banks.
The carrier is paired with a parallel push to revive water cooperation with Syria after the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024. Amman is working to coordinate releases from the Yarmouk Basin with Damascus and is also pursuing transfers from the Disi/Saq aquifer with Saudi Arabia. Jordanian planners have framed the carrier explicitly as a way to cut the political hold any single neighbour has over the country’s taps. The carrier would become Jordan’s first large-scale desalination plant.
Yitzhak predicted the strategic relationship will hold even as the political disagreement plays out, arguing the issue would ultimately be resolved in “discreet and secret talks” because Israel also has an interest in Jordanian regime stability. The first test of that forecast is whether the Abu Dhabi summit actually convenes. Jordan has not confirmed a date for the meeting, and the broader picture is tracked in Jordan’s water deal freeze and the UAE summit push.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Israel stop the extra water supply to Jordan?
Israel allowed the 2021 add-on to lapse in November 2025 and is conditioning renewal on Jordan moderating its public criticism of Israel over the Gaza war and on the two sides restoring full diplomatic relations including returning ambassadors.
What was the 2021 add-on agreement?
An arrangement reached under the Bennett-Lapid government that added another 50 million cubic meters a year to the 50 million cubic meters Israel already supplies under the 1994 peace treaty. It had been renewed every six months by Energy Minister Eli Cohen.
What is Jordan’s National Water Carrier?
A reverse-osmosis desalination and pipeline scheme at Aqaba designed to deliver around 300 million cubic meters a year to Amman and other highland cities, backed by the Green Climate Fund and development banks.
Could the trilateral Abu Dhabi summit resolve the standoff?
The UAE is pushing for a meeting of the Israeli, Jordanian and Emirati energy ministers that would put water, the stalled Prosperity project and normalisation back on the table. An Israeli official told Ynet that a deal could return if post-war tensions continue to cool.
