The Valley of Peace initiative was an effort to promote economic cooperation between Israel, Jordan, and Palestine that saw slow progress and had a few successes the 2000s and 2010s. It was based around efforts and joint projects in the Arava/Arabah Valley, along which runs the southern portion of the Israel - Jordan border. It received the personal attention and support of Shimon Peres, President of Israel. The initiative involved ongoing joint efforts by regional leaders to launch joint new industrial and economic projects, which will create new local businesses and job growth, and promote ongoing cooperation.Israel, Jordan, PA and Japan Launch 'Valley of Peace', 8/15/07.Dramatic new support for Red-Dead plan By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH, Jerusalem Post, May 16, 2008.
One major component of this plan is the construction and operation of Qualifying Industrial Zones. These are industrial facilities within Jordan and Egypt which can serve as centers of collaborative effort.
Since the beginning of the Gaza war in October 2023, any such projects promoting cultural ties and fostering interdependence between Israel & Palestine have been put on hold indefinitely or rolled back.
Overview and current status
The idea for this project began in 2005, when Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority asked the World Bank to analyze the feasibility of this idea.Israel, Jordan unveil $800m joint plan for ‘Red-Dead’ canal: As well as rejuvenating the rapidly diminishing Dead Sea, the canal will bring drinking water to both countries, Times of Israel, December 1, 2015. Work on this project was stopped in 2021.
The formal proposal for the Valley of Peace initiative began with a joint proposal in 2008 to build a canal between the Red and Dead Seas, desalinating the water, producing hydroelectric power and yielding profits, clean water, jobs and potentially unprecedented regional cooperation. The study concluded in 2013, and an agreement was signed in 2013 by Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority to move ahead with the plan.
In February 2015, Israel and Jordan signed an agreement to exchange water and jointly convey Red Sea brine to the shrinking Dead Sea. The agreement was reported to be worth about $800 million. It was the result of a memorandum of understanding signed among Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian officials on December 9, 2013, in Washington. Under this agreement, Jordan and Israel would have shared the potable water produced by a future desalination plant in Aqaba, while a pipeline would have supplied salt water to the Dead Sea.Israel, Jordan sign historic plan to save Dead Sea, By Sharon Udasin, jpost.com 02/27/2015.Israel Desalinization Technology Leads to “Historic” Agreement with Jordan , israelideas.org, April 22, 2015.
In December 2015, Israel and Jordan formally released the technical plans to move ahead with this project.
A new desalination plant to be built near the Jordanian tourist resort of Aqaba would have converted salt water from the Red Sea into fresh water for use in southern Israel and southern Jordan; each region would get eight billion to 13 billion gallons a year. This process was projected to produce about as much brine as a waste product; the brine would be piped more than 100 miles to help replenish the Dead Sea, already known for its high salt content. The goal was reinforce the status of the Dead Sea as an important economic resource to both nations, in multiple areas including tourism, industry and business.
In July 2017, Israel and the Palestinian Authority announced a new deal to provide drinking water for millions of Palestinians. this was part of the larger deal between Israel, Jordan and Palestine to build a 220-kilometer (137-mile) pipeline to convey water from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea. One benefit of this canal would be to replenish the dwindling Dead Sea. Also, the water in this canal will generate electricity for local towns, and will also power a desalination plant to produce drinking water.Israel, Palestinians reach landmark water deal for West Bank, Gaza, By Raphael Ahren and Melanie Lidman, Times of Israel website, July 13, 2017.Trump envoy Greenblatt facilitates historic Israeli-Palestinian water deal, By Herb Keinon, July 13, 2017 Work on this project was stopped in 2021.
Original plan and features, 2008 The effort first got attention in 2008, when various regional leaders began to promote this set of ideas.
One major part of the plan includes the private sector development of a $3 billion, 166 km-long (103-mile) canal system along the Arava, known as the Two Seas Canal. This engineering scheme would bring Red Sea water to the Dead Sea and could provide additional projects and benefits to the region and increase cooperation between Israelis, Jordanians, and Palestinians, through greater development and economic integration.A Mideast Valley of Peace, by Jennifer L. Schenker Businessweek article, May 29, 2008.The Red Sea and the Mediterranean Dead Sea canals project Israel MFA website, 10 Aug 2002. Some environmentalists have criticized the plan, saying that rehabilitation of the Jordan River would be a better way to save the Dead Sea, and would bring less disruption.Environmentalists slam World Bank over Red-Dead canal By RORY KRESS, jpost.com, Aug 12, 2007.Spiegel article, Sept 2007.
This Valley of Peace is part of a 20-kilometer [23-mile] corridor being proposed by Israeli President Shimon Peres for regional economic development. About 420 km of the corridor runs along the Jordanian border, with no border fences, and another 100 km touches on the Palestinian territories. Other projects involve the German, Japanese, and Turkish governments and are slated to create up to a million new jobs in Israel and the West Bank.
Original project contents, 2008 As first proposed in 2008, the plan encompassed a number of items. Some possible future developments along the canal may include convention centers, hotels for up to 200,000 people, restaurants, parks, and artificial lakes and lagoons, and greenhouses for winter fruits and vegetables. A high-speed train line and highway would run along the canal allowing travel between the Dead and Red Seas within an hour. The area may also become a free-trade zone, thus attracting investment from around the world.
The canal might also include a major desalinization plant. In May 2008, it was announced that this project was getting close to being implemented.
PIEFZA is a Palestinian economic organization designed to promote participation in the industrial parks which will be created by this effort.Piefza website details , also at Organization details at the group's website. The project will also include a number of other separate efforts and projects, including:
An industrial area in Jenin to create jobs, with support from Germany, which pledged about $30 million to help with this.German cooperation with the Palestinian Territories: Economic reform and employment , Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), official Germany government website, April 2007. This would be used for businesses in the fields of textile, wood, and food products. A similar effort has already succeeded in the Jordanian industrial zone.'Valley of peace , - by Shimon Peres, posted Friday, August 10, 2007 on IsraCast.com. An agro-industrial park to be built near Jericho, with support from Japan. Face Time with Shimon Peres, cnn.com, 12/3/07.Press statement: The Third Ministerial-Level Meeting of the Four-Party Consultative Unit for the "Corridor for Peace and Prosperity" Japan Min of Foreign Affairs, 2 July 2008, Tokyo. The "Erez Industrial Estate" project - a free industrial zone near Erez crossing, A tripartite revitalization of Erez , Epri Director Güven Sak, Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey Jan 16, 2006.“Ankara Forum” Efforts to Foster Economic Cooperation between Israel and the Palestinian Authority Continue, World Trade Center Israel Ltd., Nov. 2005, viewed as HTML document. with support from Turkey. It will be supported through a joint effort by Turkish, Israeli and Palestinian private sectors, known as the Ankara Forum which will also pursue other common economic goals and industrial projects.Ankara Forum and ‘realpolitik’ lesson in Ankara…, acturca.wordpress.com/, 11/13/07.Abbas adviser: 'not a word' written of joint statement by Yaakov Katz, jpost.com, 11/13/07. The project received the support of the Israeli, Turkish and Palestinian presidents during a trilateral summit in Ankara the previous November, according to an aide to Peres. The seventh meeting of the Ankara Forum for Economic Cooperation on November 13, 2007, brought together business representatives from the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB), the Federation of Palestinian Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture and the Israeli Manufacturers' Association. Turkey has played a crucial role to bring peace to the region by playing facilitator role between the regional countries. A hi-tech industrial park in Nazareth by entrepreneur Stef Wertheimer, which was completed and opened on April 23, 2013.Your guide today is... Shimon Peres, by Ron Friedman, Jerusalem Post, Jan 13, 2010. Wertheimer has stated, "Coexistence in the industrial park in Arab Nazareth is a good example of coexistence. When people work together, they have no time for nonsense. They're too tired at night to commit terrorist acts. They're satisfied, they engage in producing. They work together, not against each other."Stef Wertheimer's New Middle East Israel21c, January 11, 2004Peace through industrial parks: Israeli entrepreneur Stef Wertheimer wants to convert the Middle East to capitalism. Sep 18th 2003, economist.com Wertheimer has founded four industrial parks in Israel. "The idea of industrial parks in the Middle East and on the borders between Israel and its neighbors is that the parks will bring industry and provide jobs, which will keep people busy working, instead of engaging in terrorism," explains Wertheimer. One park is the Tefen Industrial Park, which includes everything from transportation to cultural and educational facilities. In April 2013, a new industrial park opened in Nazareth. He has established seven industrial parks – in Tefen, Tel-Hai, Dalton, Lavon and now Nazareth in the Galilee; in Omer in the Negev; and another in Turkey.Stef Wertheimer opens Nazareth Industrial Park Israel MFA, accessed 5/6/2015. A car factory to be operated jointly by Israel and Jordan. It would manufacture cars made by Toyota and Renault.Israel, Jordan to build cars together, by IEICI, ynetnews.com, 05/30/07. an airport in Eilat shared by Jordan and Israel, which will facilitate future cooperation in tourism between the two countries. It would include a Jordanian terminal, for tourists to Jordan, and an Israeli terminal, leading tourism to Eilat. A railway connection between Jordan and Israel, which would facilitate shipments of goods between the two countries. Agro-industrial development in Jericho, enabling the region to be a major agricultural source for the Middle East. Japan has offered to aid in the development of this. A joint Israeli-Palestinian university and medical center. This effort would be led by Ali Dogramaci, a Turkish professor, and will be located on the Israeli side of the Green Line, between Afula and Jenin. As of June 2009, the status of this project is in doubt due to some objections raised by some officials within the Israeli Government. However, the Turkish Government has given this effort some encouragement.Why Israel's rejection of 'peace' hospital offer angered Turkey, by Akiva Eldar, Haaretz, 6/22/09.
Project history
Project origins, 2005–2008 The idea for this project began in 2005, when Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority asked the World Bank to analyze the feasibility of the idea.