Understanding Water Diplomacy Between Israel and Jordan

Understanding Water Diplomacy Between Israel and Jordan

Join NDI staff from the Jerusalem Global Center and a special guest from the U.S. State Department to discuss the standardization of a duel plumbing system with a gray water pipe (sinks/showers) and black water pipe (toilets). Black water goes to sludge treatment, but gray water is not nearly as expensive to clean and can then be used for agriculture. Israel reuses 85% of its water and began working on desalination twenty years ago and now has five desalination plants, with over 60% of its water coming from the Mediterranean.

Meet the Moderator: Gabriel Mitchell

Gabriel Mitchell was appointed the Director of Undergraduate Studies for the University of Notre Dame in Jerusalem in August 2021. Gabriel has a background in both public policy and study abroad education. He most recently held the position of Director of External Relations at the Mitvim Institute, a foreign policy think tank. He is a leading voice on energy and climate issues in the region, and regularly participates in regional dialogues addressing these topics. Prior to that, Gabriel spent many years working for an academic gap-year program based in Jerusalem. He has also led the Semester for Global Engagement program at Virginia Tech University’s Washington, D.C.

Meet the Guest Speaker: Daniel J. Blumenthal

Daniel J. Blumenthal, Ph.D.
Attaché, U.S. Embassy, Jerusalem
Department of Energy

Dr. Daniel Blumenthal is the Department of Energy (DOE) Attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem where he represents the full range of DOE’s energy, cyber, science, and nuclear security portfolios. Prior to his arrival in October 2020, he managed radiological response programs at DOE Headquarters. In that role, he led the initial DOE response team to Japan following the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant accident in March 2011. He has also participated in many international technical exchanges regarding emergency preparedness and nonproliferation. Prior to working at DOE he spent time at the Department of Homeland Security’s Domestic Nuclear Detection Office as Chief Test Scientist and at the DOE’s Remote Sensing Laboratory as a Senior Scientist. Dr. Blumenthal’s background is in nuclear physics and health physics.

Water Diplomacy and Stability

Presented by Gabriel Mitchell

Gabriel Mitchell (Notre Dame) and Dr. Daniel Blumenthal (Department of Energy (DOE) Attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem) in conversation about water diplomacy between Israel and Jordan and the agreement signed by the two governments which will see the construction of a major solar power plant in the Hashemite Kingdom (to generate electricity for Israel), and a desalination plant in Israel (to deliver water to Jordan).

 

Additional Resources

Presented by Gabriel Mitchell

Sharing the River: Sustainability in Israel and Palestine by Natalie Ambrosio ’17

Daniel Blumenthal, Department of Energy Attaché for the US Embassy in Jerusalem, Israel also provides these resources:

How does solar work?

Turning desalination waste into a useful resource

Desalination in Israel

DOE and desalination work

What is reverse osmosis desalination?

View the Live Virtual Event

Presented by Gabriel Mitchell

Wednesday, April 6, 2022 1:00 pm

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Featured Speakers: 

  • Gabriel Mitchell, Director of Undergraduate Studies, University of Notre Dame in Jerusalem
  • Dr. Daniel Blumentha, Department of Energy (DOE) Attaché,U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem

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