5. Discourse and Status

Both Israel and Jordan have conducted studies of a Med-Dead or Red-Dead Canal that would reverse debilitating trends in the Dead Sea basin and have additional spinoff effects, like the promotion of tourism. The Harza group sees the Red Sea-Dead Sea Canal as the next step in the peace process, that will occur when Israel and Jordan jointly realize the development potential of the Jordan Valley. Cooperation on a canal project could lead to other cooperative sectoral development, such as the marketing and expansion of Dead Sea tourism. Construction on a canal has not yet begun. The proposed projects are costly and additional economic analyses are necessary. The lack of movement on the project may be contrasted with unilateral development projects in the 1950s like Israel's National Water Carrier (completed in 1964) and Jordan's 110-km East Ghor Canal on the Yarmuk River (completed in 1961) that were completed relatively quickly.