TEHRAN- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s latest video appeal to Iranians—promising Israeli desalination and recycling knowledge once "Iran is free"—repurposes a technique he first used in 2018: using a real environmental crisis to advance regime change.  

The new message, with phrases like "the thirst for water in Iran is only matched by the thirst for freedom," was quickly amplified by friendly outlets, and just as quickly mocked by Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, who pointed to Gaza's devastation and the saltwater deprivation imposed by the Israeli siege.

Two points challenge Netanyahu’s ethical claim. First, Israel is one of the most water-stressed countries in the world. The World Resources Institute places Israel in the top “extremely high” tier, meaning Israel withdraws more than 80% of available renewable water every year—a structural stress which is only partially mitigated by technology. That Israel has developed such a formidable reuse/desalination sector does not erase the fundamental scarcity, nor does it give permission to lecture others.

Secondly, Netanyahu's so-called "Youtube diplomacy" is not new. In June 2018 he launched a Farsi outreach which showcased Israeli water expertise and related website. Seven years later, the framing is the same: help follows political change in Tehran. It is a blatantly political campaign disguised as humanitarian concern.

Also, the timing diminishes credibility. Just weeks before, Israel attacked Iran. It triggered a 12-day war that killed hundreds of people, while hardening public sentiment and united Iranians around a sense of national sovereignty not a foreign sermon.  Whatever Netanyahu's intent, the political impact inside Iran is predictable: ridicule, resentment, and a closing of ranks against an external adversary that just bombed targets on Iranian soil.

Netanyahu is also still muddling humanitarian rhetoric with requests for internal upheaval, openly wondering if Israeli military bombardment of Iran could spark regime change—something that many regional experts view as a strategically careless misreading of Iranian social dynamics. When your ended goal is regime collapse, your "help" is much more like psychological operations than solidarity.

Finally, there is the Gaza benchmark. Credible humanitarian organizations and analysts have documented how water and sanitation systems in Gaza have been systematically degraded during the current war, including the disabling of desalination capacity and severe constraints on water access—facts that starkly contradict a self-portrait of a political water altruism. 

For Iranians, the water emergency is real and urgent. But a foreign leader who couples conditional technical aid with overt regime-change rhetoric—days after an imposed war—misreads the national mood and the ethics of crisis response. The 2018 playbook didn’t work; the 2025 sequel lands even worse. 

Israel’s water policy and occupied Palestinian territories

Israel’s handling of water in the occupied Palestinian territories—namely the West Bank and Gaza—has been shaped by a complex interplay of control, disparity, and environmental stress.

The longstanding restrictions and policies employed by Israel not only create a stark imbalance in water access but also challenge the country’s claims of being able to “solve” water crises elsewhere.

Since the 1967 occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, Israel has exercised tight control over major shared water sources. The Mountain Aquifer, which lies beneath both Israel and the West Bank, serves as a crucial source of freshwater for Palestinians.

However, Israel regulates the extraction quotas, granting itself a significantly larger share while capping Palestinian access. This unequal allocation has led to persistent water shortages for millions of Palestinians.

Numerous reports from the United Nations and NGOs have documented repeated instances where Israeli authorities have destroyed Palestinian wells, cisterns, and pipelines deemed “unauthorized.”

Such actions are often justified under security or permit laws, but in practice, they serve to deepen Palestinian dependence on water purchased from Israel, even in agricultural villages and communities desperately needing self-sufficiency.

In Gaza, the situation is further aggravated by the Israeli-Egyptian blockade, which hampers the import of essential materials for water purification and infrastructure repair. As a result, the majority of Gaza’s 2 million residents do not have consistent access to safe drinking water.

The disparity in water consumption is notable. While Israeli settlements in the West Bank enjoy continuous water supply—averaging three to four times the per capita daily usage of neighboring Palestinian areas—many Palestinian towns and villages experience rationing and periodic cutoffs, especially during the hot, dry summer months.

These limitations are compounded by restrictions on the development of new wells or infrastructure—permits that are rarely granted to Palestinians but widely available to Israeli settlements.

It is also critical to note that Israel’s vaunted water technology—from desalination plants to wastewater recycling—was born of necessity.

The country faces its own acute water stress due to chronic droughts and limited natural resources. Desalination now provides roughly two-thirds of Israel’s domestic water supply, a technology Israel touts globally with pride but which remains prohibitively expensive and largely inaccessible to Palestinians due to the occupation and blockade policies.

Israel’s history of water management with respect to the Palestinian territories exemplifies a policy of control and inequity.

The systemic restrictions, infrastructural destruction, and severe limitations on Palestinian access serve not only as a humanitarian issue but as a fundamental obstacle to peace and sustainable development in the region.

The human cost of Gaza water collapse

Since the Israeli attack on Gaza on October 7, 2023, the water situation has reached catastrophic levels, compounded by Israel's subsequent military operations and blockade. 

On October 9, 2023, Israel imposed a total siege on Gaza that included cutting off the three pipelines supplying 13% of Gaza's water. By mid-December 2023, Gaza residents faced an average of just 3 liters of water per person per day—half of which was unsafe for drinking. 

This is drastically below the World Health Organization's minimum standards. The blockade significantly limited the fuel needed for the operational water treatment plants and pumping stations, fundamentally crippling the water infrastructure.

Bombing caused damage to at least seven water facilities, including reservoirs, in Gaza City, Jabalia, and Rafah. By late October 2023, about 55% of the water infrastructure was in need of repair or rehabilitation. Numerous shutdown desalination plants compounded the crisis.

The ongoing blockade and attacks destroyed sanitation facilities, leading to the use of contaminated water and heightened risk of waterborne diseases.

Efforts to provide humanitarian aid have been grossly insufficient, with limited water, food, and medical supplies allowed into Gaza. The power plant ran out of fuel by October 11, 2023, resulting in a complete loss of electricity, and shutting down critical water supply systems. Despite international calls for humanitarian access, water delivery remains severely constrained.

By early 2024 and continuing into 2025, Gaza's water crisis persists as a man-made disaster. The destruction of infrastructure combined with the blockade has created an unprecedented public health emergency. 

This dire water crisis underscores the acute humanitarian consequences of the conflict and the blockade, calling for urgent international intervention to restore water and basic services to Gaza.

Iranian backlash turns Netanyahu’s water pitch into political misfire

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent offer to help Iran alleviate its escalating water crisis, contingent on the overthrow of the regime, has ignited widespread derision and anger across Iranian social media platforms like X. 

This complex response reflects deep-rooted mistrust, historical grievances, and national pride amid a tumultuous geopolitical backdrop. Netanyahu’s message - which linked Iran’s water scarcity to its political leadership and promised cutting-edge Israeli expertise in water recycling and desalination once Iran is “free” - was seen almost universally by Iranian users as hypocritical and manipulative. 

Users highlighted that Netanyahu himself is accused of policies leading to water deprivation in Palestinian territories, especially Gaza, where millions suffer severe shortages under Israeli occupation. 

Comments mocked his call by pointing out that Israel itself faces serious drought and water management problems, making his offer appear insincere. Several pointed to Iran’s ancient water management heritage—thousands of years of adapting to arid climates through qanats and traditional innovations. 

They rejected Netanyahu’s implicit suggestion that Iranians are helpless, proudly asserting their resilience and ability to manage water scarcity without foreign interference.

This deep cultural pride increasingly melds with a rejection of perceived external meddling. 

Critics also underscored Netanyahu’s history of broken promises, especially his past declarations of “freedom” for Gaza, which remains devastated, indicating that his pledges mask deeper strategic objectives rather than genuine humanitarian concern. 

Iranian social media voices condemned the offer as recycled psychological warfare, with phrases and scenarios “reused from eight years ago” aimed at fomenting unrest in Iran, as part of a calculated campaign for regime change. The appeal was widely seen as a political gambit rather than aid: Netanyahu’s message was “not a call for help” but a demand wrapped in conditional assistance. 

Many Iranians expressed anger at the audacity of a figure accused of war crimes declaring support while Israel remains implicated in Palestinian suffering and environmental exploitation.

Further amplifying skepticism were reports revealing severe water crises inside Israel itself, with official audits critiquing Israel’s water mismanagement, undermining Netanyahu’s credibility as a responsible caretaker of water resources. 

In this light, Netanyahu’s message is viewed less as a humanitarian outreach and more as a continuation of long-standing antagonism cloaked in opportunistic rhetoric.

Iranian social media reactions vividly illustrate the rejection of this narrative, reinforcing a national identity rooted in historical endurance, sovereignty, and defiance against calculated external pressure.

The episode highlights how water—a vital resource—is deeply entwined with politics, history, and identity in the fraught Israel-Iran relationship.

Tehran slams Netanyahu’s water pitch as political provocation

Iranian officials have strongly repudiated Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent call urging Iranians to protest against the Islamic Republic over shortages of electricity and water. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian dismissed Netanyahu’s offer of assistance to address the water crisis as a mere “mirage,” implying it is deceptive and unrealistic. 

Similarly, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, condemned the Israeli leader’s comments, accusing Netanyahu of trying to deceive the Iranian public with “a glass of treated sewage water.”

In a forceful statement on social media, Qalibaf drew a stark parallel between the Israeli sabotage of Tehran’s water supply infrastructure and the ongoing Israeli blockade and water deprivation inflicted on Palestinians in Gaza.

He called Israel the “world’s number one water thief,” asserting that thirst has been weaponized as a tool of genocide against Palestinians, according to multiple international organizations.

Further, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi branded Netanyahu and his administration as foolish and repetitive in their tactics, emphasizing that the Iranian people have demonstrated resilience and will not fall prey to such provocations. Araghchi echoed this sentiment, condemning Israel’s crimes in Gaza and insisting that Iran possesses the scientific expertise and capability to resolve its water issues internally if economic sanctions are lifted.

The officials emphasized that Iranians will not be swayed by Netanyahu’s inflammatory remarks, viewing them as orchestrated political maneuvers rather than genuine offers of help.

Their responses underscore Tehran’s rejection of external interference and highlight Iran’s commitment to self-sufficiency amid ongoing crises. 

Expert says Israel’s water policy is marked by security-driven structure

Hojjat Mianabadi, a researcher specializing in water diplomacy, offers a critical perspective on water governance in the occupied territories, highlighting its deeply ideological and militarized nature. According to him, Israel is among the few regions worldwide where water management is heavily influenced by Zionist ideology.

In this context, water is not merely a natural resource but a crucial tool to realize Zionist goals such as “returning to the land” and “making the desert bloom.” 

Despite limited data transparency due to military control, estimates show that Israel annually extracts around 2.5 billion cubic meters of water, of which approximately 60% is allocated to agriculture.

Drinking water accounts for about 400 million cubic meters, with more than 85% derived from Mediterranean desalination plants—an approach that ironically increases Israel’s water security vulnerability.

Scientific reports suggest that Israel’s water security primarily hinges on the seizure of shared water resources rather than technological innovation. Over the past 60 years, more than 37 water-related conflicts have emerged globally, with over 30 involving Israel and its neighbors.

Significantly, water use disparities between settlers and Palestinians are stark: official figures show Israelis consume 2.4 billion cubic meters annually versus 300 million cubic meters by Palestinians—a 7:1 ratio. Independent experts argue this gap is understated, estimating actual ratios from 9:1 up to 12:1.

Mianabadi concludes that Israel’s proclaimed water security is largely a narrative that conceals the militarized appropriation of water resources, contradicting claims of technological superiority.