(IsraelNN.com) The Knesset House Committee voted Monday to initiate an official state inquiry into the current water crisis. Supreme Court President Justice Dorit Beinisch will appoint the members of the inquiry panel.

The state commission of inquiry will investigate why the past recommendations of professionals and decisions by the government were not implemented.

The director of the Water Authority, Dr. Uri Shani, responded that an inquiry will not solve the country's water shortage.

National Infrastructures Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, however, was pleased at the decision. He blamed the current crisis on the Finance Ministry for cutting funds for the construction of desalinization plants that had been previously approved by the Knesset.

The committee, he said, should "first investigate the conduct of the National Infrastructures Ministry throughout the years, including my actions as minister in recent years."

"I want the commission to determine unequivocally who is at fault and for what reasons," added Ben-Eliezer, "because the bureaucrats change but the conception remains – to always look at everything through the [economic lens.]"

Shani announced earlier in the month that Israel is facing "the worst crisis in 80 years, since they started keeping records."

The coastal aquifer has already fallen below the black line, indicating it could suffer possibly irreversible damage. The level of the Kinneret this month dropped below the red line, below which it is not recommended to draw water from the lake, and now is 213 meters below sea level.

Shani predicted that the lake could fall below the black line of 215 meters below sea level by December 2008, a level where it may be difficult for pumps to operate.