Periphery Development Minister Silvan Shalom proposed Monday that the government support a pilot program to check the feasibility of a Dead Sea-Red Sea Canal which would provide desalinated water for Israel and Jordan. The pilot project would cost $1.25 billion.

“There is an agreement on this project with the Jordanians, with the Palestinian Authority, and with the World Bank,” Shalom said. “The Jordanians want to act anyway, so we should take the opportunity to act together with them.”