Netanyahu Offered to Solve Iranians' Water Crisis. But Here's What It Really Trickles Down to - Opinion - Haaretz.com
Iran is facing one of its most devastating water crises in recent memory. Tehran reports temperatures soaring above 50 Celsius (122 Fahrenheit), rainfall has declined by over 40 percent and reservoir levels have fallen to record lows, while Iranian authorities plead with the public to curb consumption. Within this context, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed Iranians that "the moment your country is free" of their Islamic regime, Israel would provide them with the technology and know-how to resolve its water crisis.
The statement, which made no effort to hide its political motivation, rested on Israel's self-image as a global leader in water technology, familiarity with managing scarcity in a comparable climate and its claimed history of water diplomacy in the region.
Iran's water crisis is not an isolated emergency. While Iran has struggled with drought, heatwaves and chronic water shortages for decades, the crisis stems from mismanagement of water resources and politically-motivated infrastructure decisions, which ignored ecological and social needs. Climate change is only deepening an already unsustainable trajectory.
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Water crises are never just environmental. They are inseparable from the social and political contexts in which they unfold, often feeding into existing tensions and, in turn, often worsened by them.
Iran's situation is no exception. The crisis has sparked protests, echoing past water-related demonstrations in Iran that frequently signal discontent with the regime. It has also opened the door for outside actors to exploit it as a geopolitical opportunity.
That Netanyahu would seize on Iran's crisis is unsurprising – not only given Israel's longstanding interest in weakening Iranian leadership, but also in an age where imperialist approaches to diplomacy and aid often permeate foreign assistance. Water crises routinely create openings for outside actors to step in. International financial institutions, NGOs and states alike arrive with promises of expertise or financing for infrastructure projects – and these partnerships aren't always neutral.
They can be tied to debt, geopolitical alignments or foreign policy priorities. For Netanyahu, Iran's drought is less of a humanitarian problem to be addressed, and more an opportunity for Israel to position itself as the indispensable solution.
This is not Israel's first such overture. In 2018, Netanyahu released a video messageaddressed to the Iranian public, promoting a new website and Telegram channel in Farsi offering water-saving tips and access to Israeli innovations. Iran dismissed it as propaganda. In response to the most recent offer, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian called Netanyahu's statement "A MIRAGE, NOTHING MORE."
In practice, Israel's track record in water diplomacy has proven less about cooperation than control, repeatedly deployed to create dependence and secure leverage – rather than partnership – over its neighbors and occupied territories.
Take the occupied West Bank, for example. On paper, groundwater is jointly managed through the Israeli-Palestinian Joint Water Committee (JWC), established under the Oslo Accords. But in practice, Israel holds ultimate veto power over any Palestinian water project, leaving dozens of critical water supply projects held up by this so-called cooperative mechanism.
Israel's representatives to the JWC reflect a deeply securitized approach to water cooperation. The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the Ministry of Defense unit charged with overseeing Gaza and West Bank water projects, is often at the negotiating table, ensuring that even technical negotiations are instruments of control and leverage over Palestinian water resources. Even when Israeli and Palestinian water authorities agree on technical solutions, projects with components in Area C of the West Bank require COGAT's approval.
While Palestinian authorities have continued to present comprehensive solutions for its population's needs, Israel rejects offers that are not within their own, unpublished water masterplan for the territory – a strategy that is dedicated to substantial expansion of settlements across the West Bank.
This results in a reality where a Palestinian in the West Bank has access to one third of the quantity of water relative to their Israeli neighbor, including from illegal settlements. On top of this, Israel's water strategy trickles down from the negotiating table – enabling state-backed settler violence, demolitions and confiscations – all designed to advance broader political aims of territorial domination.
Much can also be said about how Israel has long used water as a tool of control in Gaza. Historically, Israel's approval and facilitation of material entry for water projects – a near impossible venture – fueled Gaza's dependence on Israeli-supplied water. Since the onset of the war, Israel has consistently weaponizing water as a strategy of its genocide – destroying water infrastructure, cutting critical water supply lines, and preventing entry of humanitarian supplies. In Gaza, access to water is granted – or withheld – only on Israel's terms, reinforcing power and leverage.
Jordan offers another lesson. Through Israel's control over regional water resources, Jordan is dependent on Israeli supply, granting resources only under conditions that reinforce compliance. Even agreements framed as technical or cooperative carry strings. In 2023 discussions on renewing the existing water-energy deal, Israel reportedly asked Jordan to tone down criticism of Israel.
Israel proudly presents its water diplomacy as technical, good-willed and even humanitarian. In practice, it functions as dependence-creation and a tool of leverage.
There is no doubt that water cooperation could be transformative in this region. Shared climate challenges demand shared solutions. Around the world, cross-border water partnerships have become vital tools for regional resilience. But time and again, Israel does not offer water as a natural, life-sustaining resource. It deploys it as a means of control.
That is why Netanyahu's promise to help Iran should be understood for what it is: Not a contribution to regional survival, but a bargaining chip. Not an offer to solve drought, but a political message of regime change.
Iran's water crisis is real and devastating. But Netanyahu's offer is, indeed, just another mirage.
Natasha Westheimer is an expert on climate and water issues at the intersection of humanitarian and human rights work, with extensive experience in the Israel/Palestine and conflict-affected contexts.