Dutch water firm cuts Israel ties after tense PM visit

The decision comes days after a visit to the Mekorot offices in Israel by the Netherland's trade minister Lilianne Ploumen was abruptly cancelled.

Related stories:

• Dutch premier's Israel trip hit by Gaza row
• UN: Israel to allow some materials into Gaza again
• Audit: EU pays Palestinians in Gaza to not work
  

In a statement, Vitens said it had come to the conclusion that it was "extremely hard" to work with Mekorot on future projects "because they cannot be taken out of the political context."

The company visit was part of a larger tour of Israel by Prime Minister Mark Rutte that was marred by a dispute over a Dutch-made security scanner on the Gaza border.

Rutte was to have inaugurated the scanner on the frontier with the Hamas -ruled strip, but the ceremony was broken off.

The focus of the dispute is trade between Gaza and the West Bank, which is controlled by the Palestinian Authority under president Mahmoud Abbas.

Mekorot, which provides water to Israelis and to Jewish settlements in the West Bank, has been accused by Dutch media of denying water access to Palestinians.

According to the World Bank, a third of Palestinian territories are cut off from the Israeli water system and Israelis draw out a far bigger share of the water supply than agreed in the 1995 Oslo Accords .

But last week Israel, Jordan and the Palestinians signed a historic water-sharing initiative at the World Bank that could protect water resources in the region amid rising demand.

The deal will see Israel, working through Mekorot, boosting its annual sales of water to the Palestinian Authority by 20-30 million cubic meters a year, up from the current level of 52 million cubic meters.

Vitens said the decision to end the Mekorot tie-up was made after conferring with the Dutch foreign ministry and other "concerned parties."

• Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter
  

• Receive Ynetnews updates directly to your desktop