Market brief
Israel
The authorities that procure water infrastructure in Israel, how the deals are put together, and what is in the pipeline.
Reference profile for IsraelOverview
Israel’s water market is built on seawater desalination procured as concessions. Most large plants were tendered as build-operate-transfer concessions, Palmachim as build-own-operate, by an inter-ministerial committee of the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Energy and the Water Authority, with the output sold to the State.1 2 The Water Authority regulates the sector and sets tariffs.3 The reference award is Western Galilee, won by IDE Technologies in November 2022 for 100 million cubic metres a year;4 Sorek B went at ILS 1.45 a cubic metre in 2020.5 The register tracks 13 schemes, US$ 0.7 bn of their disclosed value in projects not yet operating.6 A second route opened in June 2026, letting private companies develop plants of at least 100 million cubic metres a year against a 2050 target of 2.3 billion, though no regulations or application window have been published.7
Market snapshot
The commercial picture in Israel: the scale of the economy and the water sector, the investment climate, and where the near-term activity is concentrated.
Political stability
World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators score, 0–100 (absolute scale), 2025. Political stability; higher is more stable.8
Investment climate
World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators score, 0–100 (absolute scale), 2025. Regulatory quality for private investment; higher is better.8
Key institutions
- Israel Water AuthorityRegulator & resource manager
- Mekorot (national water company)Utility
Financing & PPP
- PPP frameworkMature (desalination BOT model)
- Tracked projectsUS$ 4.3 bn disclosed value in our projects register, of which US$ 0.7 bn pipeline (not yet operating)
- Active fundersCommercial project finance, European Investment Bank, KfW IPEX-Bank
- Climate adaptation planSubmitted to UNFCCC (March 2025; stage one, mapping, April 2024)
Opportunities
- 01Desalination technology export
- 02Reuse (>85% of wastewater reused)
- 03Digital water
Key challenges
- 01Energy intensity of desalination
- 02Brine management
- 03Aquifer protection
Sources and notes
Sources: Water use by sector: Israel Water Authority, Israel’s Model for Water Management (February 2025), 2023 figures. Supply by source and desalination share: FAO AQUASTAT, 2023, FAO AQUASTAT Dissemination System, retrieved 7 October 2026. Reuse share: Israel Water Authority, same presentation, 2022. Population and GDP: World Bank. Other figures (non-revenue water and the headline figure): national reports, latest available, approximate. Governance indicators: World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators (2025).
Contracting authorities
The bodies that commission, regulate and operate water infrastructure in Israel. In Israel the Water Authority regulates the sector and sets tariffs for all water users;3 Mekorot and the municipal water and sewerage corporations run the assets;3 and desalination concessions are tendered by an inter-ministerial committee of the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Energy and the Water Authority.2
- Ministry of Energy & InfrastructureMinistry
- Ministry of Environmental ProtectionMinistry
- Israel Water AuthorityRegulator
- Municipal Water & Sewage CorporationsUtility
- IDE TechnologiesPrivate BOT developer and operator of desalination plants
- MekorotBulk producer
How deals are structured
The framework in Israel is Mature (desalination BOT model), the schemes we track carry US$ 4.3 bn of disclosed value, US$ 0.7 bn of it in projects not yet operating, and the funders active in the sector include Commercial project finance, European Investment Bank, KfW IPEX-Bank.
In Israel, the large seawater desalination plants have been procured mostly as build-operate-transfer concessions, Palmachim as build-own-operate, selling their output to the State, while trunk conveyance (the National Water Carrier, the Fifth Line to Jerusalem, the Reverse Carrier) is owned by the State or Mekorot and operated by Mekorot. The Finance & Economics hub sets out each model and where it has been used.
The projects register gives a partial view. Of the 13 tracked schemes in Israel, 7 name a concession or independent-producer structure in the finance note; the rest record only where the money came from, which is not the same as saying they were not concessions.
How to bid
Israel has procured most of its large seawater desalination plants through state build-operate-transfer tenders run by an inter-ministerial desalination tenders committee, with representatives of the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Energy and the Water Authority.1 2 In June 2026 it opened a second door: the government approved a long-term plan under which private companies may develop plants of at least 100 million cubic metres a year, subject to the Water Authority, the energy minister and a planning recommendation, against a target of 2.3 billion cubic metres a year by 2050.7
| Procuring body | An inter-ministerial desalination tenders committee: the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Energy and the Water Authority.4 2 |
|---|---|
| Contract form and term | Finance, design, construction and operation under a concession. The Western Galilee plant runs 25 years beyond the project term.4 |
| New private route | From June 2026, a promoter may develop a plant of at least 100 million cubic metres a year with three approvals. No regulations, fee schedule or application window have been published.7 |
| Price benchmark | Sorek B was awarded at ILS 1.45/m³ in May 2020.5 For context, Mekorot charges local suppliers ILS 1.17/m³ within the recognised quantity and ILS 7.14/m³ above it, excluding VAT; the household bill of ILS 8.508 and ILS 15.623 includes sewage and VAT.9 10 |
The reference award predates the current window: the Western Galilee plant, Israel’s first large-scale plant in the north, went to IDE Technologies on 14 November 2022 for 100 million cubic metres a year;4 11 the EIB puts its total project cost at about EUR 470 million.12 The tariff figures here come from the regulation schedule as reproduced by the farmers’ federation.
Regulatory intelligence
| Regulation | Status | Year | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water Law | In force | 1959 | All water state-owned; licensing and pricing authority. |
| Desalination BOT framework | Active | 2000s– | Competitive concessions; new plants contracted. |
| Reuse standards (Inbar Committee; Public Health Regulations) | In force | 2010 | Effluent quality standards, phased in 2010–2015. |
| Israel–Jordan treaty Annex II + sales | In force | 1994– | Treaty allocations; an extra 50 million m³ a year agreed in 2021 expired in late 2025. |
| Oslo II Article 40 | In force (interim) | 1995 | Interim Palestinian water provisions; the two sides agreed in January 2017 to restart the Joint Water Committee after six years without meetings. |
Primary reference: the Israel Water Authority; cross-border arrangements remain politically contingent.
Projects
Tracked schemes in Israel, largest first. Each has its own page with the parties, the finance and a dated history.
Sources and notes
Interactive map: switch views, hover or focus a marker, and use the +/− controls (or double-click, then drag) to zoom and pan. Geometry and data from the MENA Water Review library.
13 tracked in total. The full set, filterable, is in the major projects register.
Track record
Contracts on record in Israel, from the awards log and the major projects register, dated by commissioning where known.
Disclosed value by year
US$ bn of tracked awards in Israel carrying a published value
| Year | Project | Winning firms | US$ m |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 on line | Sorek 2 Desalination | IDE Technologies developer | 571 |
| 2022 | Western Galilee Desalination (Birkat Miriam) | IDE Technologies developer | 508 |
| 2022 on line | National Carrier Flow Reversal (Reverse Water Carrier) | EMS contractor | 298 |
| 2013 on line | Sorek 1 Desalination | IDE Technologies, Hutchison Water developer | 400 |
| 2010 on line | Hadera Desalination | IDE Technologies, Shikun & Binui developer | 430 |
| 2007 on line | Palmachim Desalination | Via Maris Desalination developer | 160 |
| 2005 on line | Ashkelon Desalination | IDE Technologies, Veolia, Elran Infrastructures developer | 270 |
Sources and notes
Years without a label are award years from the curated log; rows marked on line are dated by commissioning, from the projects register. Register rows without a commissioning date show their stage instead: awarded, with the year recorded, or under construction or operating, with no year. 7 rows in total for Israel.
Repeat winners
- IDE Technologies5 tracked awards, as developer
Pipeline & tenders
Structured procurements and live tenders in Israel, drawn from the same review that maintains the pipeline tracker.
Pipeline & awards
Tenders
Prices
What households pay
| Household tariff (US$/m³) | Cost of supply (US$/m³) | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| $2.46 / $4.53 | $0.87 (farm fresh water) | 2026 | January 2026 tariff regulations as reproduced by the farmers’ federation; Davar for the increase9 10 |
ILS 8.508/m³ for the recognised household quantity and ILS 15.623 above it, including VAT, from 1 January 2026: those are water and sewage combined. Water alone is ILS 4.54 and 11.65/m³, and Mekorot charges local suppliers ILS 1.17 and 7.14/m³ excluding VAT. The cost figure is the full average cost of fresh water for agriculture, ILS 3.02/m³, not a household supply cost. Converted at ILS 3.45 per US$ (World Bank official exchange rate, 2025 average).
Residential tariffs, and the cost of supply where a utility publishes it, are kept in one place for the whole region so the comparison holds: a tariff means little without the cost it is measured against.
Watch list
What has actually moved in Israel, dated, from the monthly briefings. Each item names the edition it came from.
- September 2026Five of the six large Mediterranean desalination plants were shut by turbid seawater on 1 September; the state decided to buy a dedicated stock of membranes.From the October 2026 briefing
The full editions are in the briefing archive.
Sources
12 references
Project, pipeline and tender records are compiled from procurer announcements, lender disclosures and trade reporting; each project page carries its own source and the date it was last checked. Institutions are from the decision-maker directory. Economic and water indicators are cited on the reference profile.
- Legislative Council of Hong Kong, Research Office, Fact Sheet: Seawater desalination in Israel, April 2017: except the Palmachim plant, all were built using the build-operate-transfer model.
- Israel Ministry of Finance, Western Galilee desalination project page (Hebrew): the inter-ministerial tender committee for seawater desalination publishes and manages Israel’s desalination tenders.
- World Bank (2017), Water Management in Israel: Key Innovations and Lessons Learned for Water-Scarce Countries.
- IDE Technologies, award of the Western Galilee desalination plant, 14 November 2022.
- IDE Technologies, “IDE Technologies secures the Sorek B tender”, 26 May 2020.
- MENA Water Review major projects register and PPP pipeline — compiled from procurer publications, development-bank project pages and trade reporting; each record names its source.
- The Jerusalem Post, on the government’s long-term plan for desalination, 8 June 2026.
- Kaufmann & Kraay, Worldwide Governance Indicators (World Bank), 2025 update: political-stability and regulatory-quality scores, 0–100, shown in the market snapshot. worldbank.org/wgi.
- Mayim LeYisrael, water tariff update for agriculture and households, January 2026, reproducing the regulation schedule.
- Davar, on the 2.35% tariff rise from 1 January, 18 December 2025.
- IDE Technologies, Western Galilee Desalination Plant, project page.
- European Investment Bank, Western Galilee Desalination Plant (20210765): total cost about EUR 470 million; EUR 150 million signed 23 December 2023.
Numbered references are linked from the superscript markers in the text. Figures without a marker come from the sources above as compiled in the site methodology.
Sources and notes
Firms appearing on two or more tracked awards in Israel. For a PPP, BOT, BOO or independent water, power or sewage project the winner counted is the developer or sponsor consortium; for an EPC or works contract it is the contractor. Each consortium member is counted on its own. EPC contractors working for a developer, subcontractors and equipment suppliers are not counted, and a PPP whose developer is not recorded counts for no firm.