Elkin: 80,000 Jerusalem residents have worse water supply than Gaza

“It cannot be that in 2024, the supply of water to a neighborhood in Israel is worse than the supply of water to Gaza which is at war,” said MK Ze’ev Elkin, chair of the Knesset Finance subcommittee for oversight of the water system, commenting on the water shortage in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Kafr ‘Aqab.

The northernmost Palestinian neighborhood in Jerusalem, Kafr ‘Aqab was annexed and added to Jerusalem’s municipal jurisdiction in 1967. It is located behind the security barrier, near the Kalandiya checkpoint, which administratively places it in a no man’s land.

Elkin made the statement at a subcommittee meeting where he called on water supply for Jerusalem neighborhoods outside of the security barrier, continuing previous meetings on the topic.

The severe water shortage in Kafr ‘Aqab has been ongoing since early June, said the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, citing the residents.

Water currently runs in the neighborhood’s pipes around 12 hours a week, according to an ACRI report from the end of June that cites residents. Water is supplied to the neighborhood by the Ramallah Water Company, because of a “historic anomaly,” according to the association.

“The right to water is basic and that is why we can’t give up,” said Elkin. “It does not make sense that no one has thought to demand clear conditions for supplying Kafr ‘Aqab with water. The state needs to take care of its neighborhood – 80,000 residents of the biggest city in Israel that have a worse water supply than in Gaza. It does not make sense.”

A short-term solution

Committee meeting participants, including representatives from Israel’s Water Authority, Jerusalem’s water company Hagihon, and the Jerusalem Municipality were unable to say who maintains the water system in Kafr ‘Aqab and Shuafat.

“I don’t know if anyone can say what the situation is in Kafr ‘Aqab,” said Water Authority CEO Yehezkel Lifshitz, adding that they have asked Hagihon to go into the neighborhood to assess, but are not certain they will be able to.

“Of course, a situation like this is not reasonable. We don’t want to continue this way,” said Lifshitz, instead offering a short-term solution: The authority can increase the amount of water sold to the Ramallah Water Company.

Elkin asked that this offer be contingent on the company diverting at least some of this addition directly to Kafr ‘Aqab – and asked that the additional water not be sold until determining if this demand can be met.

The representative for Israel’s National Security Council said that the council started addressing the issue last week.

Elkin concluded the meeting by saying that the situation cannot continue as things are now, touching on the legality and the issue of sovereignty the situation creates.

“A supplier that is not licensed is acting illegally in Israel’s sovereign territory,” he said: “That is a situation that cannot continue for the long term.”

Udi Shaham contributed to this report.