Israel and Jordan agree to team up to save Jordan River

By ISABEL DEBRE
Associated Press

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel and Jordan have signed a declaration of intent at the U.N. climate conference to conserve and protect their shared Jordan River — a sacred waterway nearly running dry because of climate change, pollution and other threats. The agreement was struck on Thursday at COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, where world leaders are discussing how to mitigate the escalating impact from a changing climate. It marks an important, albeit initial, step in cooperation. Chilly relations between the two countries have complicated efforts to increase water supply to the Jordan River. The waterway separates Jordan to the east from the Israeli-occupied West Bank, seized by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war and sought by the Palestinians for their future state.