'As the deer pants for water: Why Israel planned for the future while Iran did not

Water is essential; we all need it to live. You can only go three days to a week without water, so we are totally reliant on rainwater to provide what we need to survive.

I love the verse in the Bible from Psalms:

As the deer pants for water, so I long for you, O God. I thirst for God, the living God. Where can I find Him to come and stand before Him? (TLB) - Psalm 42:1–2

A beautiful animal is panting for water, needing refreshment in the hot sun of an Israeli day. That refreshment comes from a cool stream, and that is how our hearts should be toward God. We need Him with our whole heart to refresh us. Without Him, we are dead.

Jesus offered Himself as living water to the woman at the well. Water is so important that we see the patriarchs digging wells in the land to ensure survival and prosperity, providing refreshment for their animals.

These examples are from Bible times, but water is just as important today. Water remains as vital now as it was then.

That is why it is exciting to read what Israel is doing to help its people by desalinating water and pumping it into the Sea of Galilee for the first time. Israel had the foresight years ago to prepare for a time when there might not be enough water to supply the country’s needs, and so they began preparing for desalination. What great vision and foresight—what a fantastic project that looks after and potentially saves the Jewish people.

I had the chance to interview Yechezkel Lifshitz, director-general of the Israel Water Authority.

Lifshitz explained that this initiative is unprecedented globally, describing it as “the first project in the world of pumping water—actually desalinated water—back into nature.” It represents a significant change in Israel’s approach, which previously relied on nature to provide water. Desalination already supplies about 70% of the nation’s domestic water, and Israel continues to expand capacity to keep up with population growth and decreasing rainfall.

The urgency of the project became clear after a historically dry season. Lifshitz noted, “The winter between the years 2024 and 2025 is considered to be the worst winter in Israel in the last 100 years. We’re not saying it just as a phrase. We have data, we have information… because of that, the sea level in the Sea of Galilee went down sharply.”

Israel has been investing millions in its future to survive in a land where water is very precious.

Meanwhile, let’s look at Iran. What are they up to? The Times of Israel reported on December 6 that Iran is running out of water.

It’s ironic that the country has enough money to invest in rockets but not in the survival of its own people. I don’t know how much a cruise missile costs—I’ve never bought one on eBay, and they don’t seem to come up—so I did a bit of digging and asked Google.

Google told me that during the Iran war with Israel last summer, Iran fired 30 cruise missiles and 120 ballistic missiles at Israel. Google also said that a cruise missile costs between $1.5 million and $4 million per unit. A ballistic missile costs about $3 million, and up to $30 million for an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Using the lowest figures, Iran spent $45 million on cruise missiles and $360 million on ballistic missiles, for a total of $390 million spent getting a little angry with Israel. That is a huge price to pay, and again, I am using the lowest estimates.

Iran could have taken that money and invested it in the future of its people. They could have built a desalination plant. Iran has a huge coastline and could have built one anywhere along it. Google says it costs between $300 million and $1 billion to build a desalination plant. They could have built a very basic one with the money they spent attacking Israel.

And yet the people are in need. Water is scarce. As the Iranian pants for water, so Israel is having its thirst quenched by wonderful technology (I think I just wrote a psalm there).

No wonder the people of Iran are rising up at this time. What a wonderful nation Israel is—thinking ahead and thinking of its people.