According to the World Resources Institute, Israel scores a full 5 out of 5 and is classified among countries facing “extremely high” water stress. This means more than 80% of the country’s renewable water resources are withdrawn annually. The World Population Review also ranks Israel ninth among 164 countries in terms of pressure on water resources. Some independent sources, such as GreenMatch, even list Israel as the second most water-stressed country in the world.

By comparison, Iran ranks 14th globally—a serious warning sign, but still a considerable distance from Israel’s critical status.

Technological Dependence and Fragile Water Security

Over the past decades, Israel has invested heavily in seawater desalination, wastewater recycling, and digital water management technologies in an effort to contain the crisis. But this heavy reliance on technological infrastructure has itself become a strategic vulnerability.

Any disruption to desalination networks—whether through cyberattacks, power outages, or natural disasters—can rapidly interrupt water supplies for urban areas and agriculture. Since more than half of Israel’s water consumption depends on energy-intensive technologies, even an energy crisis could quickly spiral into a broad social and political crisis.

Water: A Geopolitical Knot in Middle East

Israel’s location in limited water basins—from the Jordan River to the underground aquifers of the West Bank—has for years been a source of tension with its neighbors. Excessive withdrawals from shared resources with Jordan and Palestine have been a constant cause of regional friction, and in the future, water scarcity could deepen these divides.

With climate change intensifying and surface flows declining, the risk of new confrontations over water—whether through diplomatic disputes or humanitarian crises—is rising sharply. In such a scenario, water is not merely an environmental issue but a full-scale security threat for Tel Aviv.

Gap Between Media Image and Ground Reality

Pro-Israeli media portray the country as a “global model of water management,” yet official data tell a different story. Overconsumption, depletion of groundwater, and excessive reliance on costly, energy-heavy solutions have meant the crisis is not only unresolved but persists in a hidden and chronic form.

This gap between propaganda and reality is part of Tel Aviv’s psychological warfare in the region—masking its own weaknesses while amplifying those of its rivals.

Message for Iran: An Opportunity Within a Threat

A comparison of Iran’s and Israel’s water indicators shows that while Iran also faces water scarcity, its renewable resource capacity and geographic expanse allow greater room for improvement.

Iran can chart a more sustainable path by drawing on local expertise, expanding water storage and recycling systems, reforming crop patterns, and reducing agricultural water use.

Moreover, a precise understanding of Israel’s real vulnerabilities in the water sector could provide Iranian policymakers with an effective tool in regional media and diplomatic arenas—especially since, contrary to its media image, Israel’s position on water is more precarious than Iran’s.