ISRAEL - Water Flows in Reverse

For the first time anywhere in the world, desalinated seawater is being pumped into a freshwater lake, as Israel begins transferring Mediterranean water into the Sea of Galilee, also known as the Kinneret, in an unprecedented project described by officials as a safeguard for the country’s water security.

Construction began in 2018, and the project was inaugurated in 2022 at a cost of roughly NIS 900 million ($269 million). It has now reached full-scale operation following the driest winter in a century.

“Although the project was inaugurated about a year and a half ago, full-scale pumping began only now because of the severe drought. The past winter was the driest in the last hundred years, and the Kinneret dropped to what we call the ‘red line’—a level we are not willing to cross,” said Israel Water Authority General Yechezkel Lifshitz.

“The desalination technology itself is not new; the innovation lies in the concept. We view nature not only as a supplier of water but also as a consumer of water. This is a unique approach: actively providing water back to nature from our desalination facilities,” Lifshitz told TPS-IL.

He stressed that the desalinated water is of higher quality than the lake’s natural water in terms of salinity and other parameters, with no expected negative environmental impact.

-www.jpost.com, 21 September 2025

Commentary: Only in Israel! In addition, another report states: “As of early 2026, the production cost of desalinated seawater in Israel is among the lowest in the world, often ranging from $0.41 to $0.65 per cubic meter (264 gallons). While production is efficient, the cost to consumers is higher, with an average family of four paying around 127 NIS [shekels; $42] per month for water and sewage.”

Israel takes advantage of the abundance of water, as two-thirds of the earth is covered by water, albeit not freshwater.

Generally, crops can survive for several weeks, even a month without rain, but none can for several years, as was the case during Elijah’s time. First Kings 17:1 documents: “And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.”

Later in the New Testament, James confirms: “Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit” (James 5:17-18).

Today’s Israel, poor in natural resources and lacking water, has found a way around this: Make seawater freshwater. Here again, the nations of the world—particularly those that lack natural resources such as lakes and rivers, with meager precipitation—would gladly copy Israel’s success in turning saltwater into freshwater.

There is more: The world as we know it will not continue perpetually, but there is coming a time when—after horrible judgments—there will be a new heaven and a new earth. Revelation 21:1 states: “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.” That’s quite interesting; Israel’s technology of converting seawater into freshwater will no longer be possible.

Today, God invites humanity: “And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely” (verse 6).

(See The Chariot of Israel, Item #2386, $8.95.)