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Whose water is this?

In a petition to the Supreme Court it was claimed

that Israel's mineral water companies – Mey Eden,

Neviot and Ein Gedi – sell publicly owned spring

water, illegally and without proper compensation to

the country. So far, the companies refuse to

comment and the water authority claims not to have

received the petition.

In recent weeks the chairman of the water authority,

Uri Shani, warned that by June Israel's water reservoirs will reach the red

line, and in six months they might reach the black line, which means

endangering the drinking water. The situation, Shani says, will require

ceasing to water gardens and raising the prices of water. The Association

th
for Divisional Justice petitioned to the Supreme Court on May 14 . The
petition suggests that the supervision of Israel's water resource is not very

serious, at least not when it comes to the mineral water companies.

The petitioners claim that the companies received permits to

commercially use public water without a tender. The petitioners ask the

companies to be banned from selling water until the matter is legally

arranged by a tender between the companies, which will compete each

other for the right to get water from the country and sell it. The
companies will also commit to giving proper compensation for the

privatization of a public resource.
In Israel there is a law – "The Water Statute". The statute establishes that

the water sources are the public's asset, and does not resolve the transfer

of the public resource to a private institute, for commercial use. The

statute does regularize the right to use water for households, agriculture

and industry. Attorney Li'or Tzemach explains: "this statute is intended to

keep the water resources in Israel, and to allocate water according to

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