Cabinet Approves New Flood-Protection Plan for the West Bank

Israel’s security cabinet has approved a new flood and runoff protection program for Judea and Samaria, with NIS 10 million allocated for 2027 to advance mapping and planning of drainage basins. The plan was promoted by the Agriculture and Food Security Ministry and is meant to create a full hydrological planning continuum for settlements, infrastructure and farmland both upstream and downstream.

According to the ministry, rainfall in the hills of Judea and Samaria can trigger flooding in communities, roads and agricultural areas where the water drains. The goal is to complete Israel’s drainage-basin planning framework and improve runoff management in the area.

Agriculture and Food Security Minister MK Avi Dichter welcomed the decision, saying, “We erased the Green Line in agriculture. This is nothing less than a breakthrough and an event many have awaited for years.” He added that the process would give planning institutions “eyes” in Judea and Samaria after years of “blindness.”

The ministry will lead the effort together with the Defense Ministry and the Civil Administration, working through drainage authorities whose jurisdictions border the area. Those bodies will handle mapping, engineering design and planning responses intended to protect settlements and infrastructure in Judea and Samaria and also in the downstream areas inside the Green Line. Officials said the move is based on the “basin approach,” which treats hydrological systems as one continuous natural unit. They noted that runoff from Judea and Samaria directly affects settlements, infrastructure, farmland and streams farther downstream, and that no comprehensive flood-risk framework had existed there until now because of the area’s divided control. The cabinet decision is intended to enable large-scale professional mapping and basin-wide planning to reduce damage and strengthen preparedness for extreme weather. Dr. David Asaf, the ministry’s senior deputy director general for runoff and environmental resources, said, “Nature and climate do not recognize borders,” and described the budget and planning framework as “a professional breakthrough” and “a holistic hydrological solution” for both upper and lower basin residents.