Under an agreement between the managers of the Prime Minister's Office and the Mekorot national water company, water was supposed to be restored to Druze communities immediately Thursday afternoon. It had been cut off for failure by those communities to pay their bills.

The agreement is intended to allow the local authorities, the Interior Ministry and the Finance Ministry a chance to form a comprehensive financial recovery program for the local governments. Part of the program is a 65-million-shekel allocation for the Druze communities, requested by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Treasurer Yuval Steinitz.