Finance Ministry takes steps toward new contract for Dead Sea minerals that ups government take

The Finance Ministry’s Accountant General publishes a draft bill for public comment on a new contract that will define the terms for extracting minerals from the Dead Sea beginning on April 1, 2030.

The current contract is held by ICL’s Dead Sea Works.

Officials tell a press conference that the bill attempts to balance economic and environmental needs.

As expected, the bill, a decade in the works, will increase the government take from 35 percent of the profits to 50% on a multi-year average.

It will halve the area within which the new franchisee will operate, from 3% of Israel’s total land surface to 1.5%, and will allow as much public access as possible.

It will seek to incentivize the next franchise holder to use water more efficiently by charging for use of water drawn from wells and from what remains of the Dead Sea.

The sea, a terminal lake, is receding by more than a meter each year because of industrial pumping by Israel and Jordan, and diversion for human needs of the rainwater that historically compensated for evaporation.

A new Dead Sea Affairs Directorate will ensure, among other things, that the next franchisee regularly reports to the Knesset on its activities, and that data is made available to the public.

Alongside the legislative process in the Knesset, details on taxes and on employees are yet to be published, in addition to the tender itself.

Accountant General Yali Rothenberg says the Dead Sea Concession Law Memorandum emphasizes the “fair, efficient and responsible use of one of Israel’s most important natural resources.”

He adds, “The law will ensure that the state maximizes the economic benefit to the public, promotes optimal competition and protects the unique environment of the Dead Sea region for future generations.”