Sinkhole on road near Dead Sea
Sinkhole on road near Dead SeaYoav Ari Dudkevitch/Flash90

MK Eitan Broshi (Zionist Union) on Sunday demanded Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu intervene and find a solution for the Dead Sea sinkholes.

Broshi toured the Jordan Valley and northern Dead Sea before meeting with residents of Kibbutz Ein Gedi, who told him the sinkholes were severely impacting their financial stability and quality of life.

According to Broshi, settlement of the Dead Sea area is an issue of national importance, and must be dealt with accordingly.

"In the coming month, the Israeli government will be asked to deal with the issue of sinkholes near the Dead Sea," Broshi wrote in a letter. "These sinkholes are a slow but sure death sentence to settlement on our country's eastern border, [threatening] both Kibbutz Ein Gedi and Kibbutz Mitzpeh Shalem."

"Israel's governments have created this damage, and now we have arrived at the moment of truth, when we need the President and Prime Minister of Israel to stand up bravely and make brave decisions to save the hard work of sixty years of true Zionism.

"Given the issue's importance, I request the President speak to the Prime Minister and advance an appropriate plan, which will save Kibbutz Ein Gedi and Kibbutz Mitzpeh Shalem."

The surface area of the Dead Sea has shrunk 30% over the past twenty years, and experts warn that it is on course to dry out by 2050.

In an effort to save the Dead Sea, Israel and Jordan signed a deal in 2015 to pump water from the Red Sea into the Dead Sea.