Authorities name a local company as the winning bidder for a multi-million dollar desalination plant contract, beating out Chinese competition amid reports of pressure from Washington.
IDE Technologies will build the Sorek 2 plant south of Tel Aviv, which by 2023 should be able to produce 200 million cubic meters a year of desalinated water from the Mediterranean, a statement from the finance and energy ministries says.
The new plant will be the largest of its type in the world and increase Israel’s desalination capacity by 35 percent, saving the country money on water, the statement says.
The Sorek A desalination plant, located about 15km south of Tel Aviv (Yossi Zamir/FLASH90)
The Israeli company was chosen over Hutchison Water — part of the Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison Group — less than two weeks after the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made a lightning visit to Israel during which he discussed Chinese investments.
Israel has boosted cooperation with China in the high-tech and other sectors, but its key ally the United States has urged it to limit Chinese investment in strategic sectors of the economy.
— AFP
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, May 26, 2020
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
