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During the war, “there was no disruption to the water supply — not to households and not to agriculture — not even when hundreds of our employees were called up for reserve duty.”
By Shula Rosen
Amit Lang, CEO of Mekorot, Israel’s national water company, said that since the war that began on October 7, 2025, there have been no interruptions in water service. Thanks to expanded desalination efforts and other water technology advancements, a surplus may be achieved by 2030.
He told The Jerusalem Post, “I’m very proud of how Mekorot operated throughout the war. There was no disruption to the water supply — not to households and not to agriculture — not even when hundreds of our employees were called up for reserve duty.”
Lang, who served as deputy budget director at Israel’s Ministry of Finance and CEO of the Ministry of Economy, explained that Mekorot is always prepared for the unexpected, from security issues to climate change.
“Mekorot has always been prepared for emergencies, and emergencies aren’t just security-related — they can be climate-related as well,” Lang said. “In recent years, we’ve had many difficult climate events.”
It isn’t just the arid summers in the region that challenge the water supply, but also winter storms that can damage the power grid or cause closures in desalination plants.
He also pointed out that the problem isn’t always a lack of rain, but rather that rain sometimes falls so heavily in the winter it runs directly into the ocean.
However, despite the challenges of military conflict and climate change, Lang said he expects to see a water surplus by 2030 and looks forward to new desalination plants in Western Galilee and Emek Hefer, which are expected to go to tender soon.
The main challenge Mekorot faces is transferring water from one part of the country to another, which will require additional investment in infrastructure.
He hopes regulators will increase Mekorot’s budget from NIS 1.5 billion to NIS 1.6 billion, then to NIS 1.7 billion, with an aim of reaching NIS 2 billion per year by the end of the decade.
“We’ve warned before that we can’t rely solely on wells,” Lang said. “I think that message is starting to sink in, and things are starting to move faster. Areas like the Golan Heights dried up this year. The Druze living there had to uproot orchards due to a lack of water.”
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