For every vegetable and fruit Israel exports, we loose most of the water associated with growing that item. Farmers pay a tiny price for water use compared to apartment dwellers, as do most of the residents of homes on Moshavim. No wonder the Dead Sea is disappearing.

This tax is outrageous. Stop supplying water to the Arabs, especially in Gaza, and to squatting Bedouins. Our water bills are high enough as it is.

There would not be a problem with water if the incompetents who run the entire water factory had started building desalination plants thirty years ago. That's at least how long the plans have been laying in the drawers of our stupid government and Mekorot. Now they think that an additional tax will solve their problem. They created the problem. Let's face it. It is common knowledge for over three thousand years that this area has a water problem. The idiots at Mekorot just decided that lining their pockets was a better deal than building desalination plants.

You are an idiot!

larger capacity sea water desalination plants? Why do we "export" water with our agricultural products? Why are there no inspectors and heavy fines for water wastage? Stop watering public gardens as well as private. Have phone numbers to call to report water wasting. Finally what happens if there is a burst pipe on the roof,the inside of a house or basement and the people living there are not home? We worry in my Amidar apartment building that the contractor or his workers will damage or remove pipes,boilers or solar collectors. I still did not get my solar panel replaced.I had a huge leak for three days till my neighbors informed me and I had it fixed.Right after the contractor was there.

How long has the current drought been going on? 4 years? 5 years? In the UK if there is a drought for a month measures are taken!!!

I agree about the government not doing what it should have long ago, but don't blame others. We're all wasting water. Since this winter's drought my family has been curbing our use of water. I was shocked at how much we'd been wasting. Now we have a pail to catch run-off shower water. It gives us enough to water the garden and wash the floors. All that water was previously being wasted.

It's because the Israeli mentality has one particular limitation: a project is not invested unless it brings an immediate profit. Don't ask why our education system is on a 3rd world level.

What nerve! When we are being taxed more the City continues to water its gardens in mid day wasting hundreds if not thousands of cubic meters daily!

And it's not just Jerusalem and Tel Aviv -- every city I have ever stepped foot in in this country has flowering plants, the kind that demand the most water in it's municipal areas. HEL-oo!!!! We are in a desert!!! How about cacti? There are some beautiful ones, in all colours, not just green. And if the Municipalities are afraid they will get sued by the parents of kids who get prickles, than they can just do rock formations. Flowering plants are just WRONG in this country!!!!

there is a drought in this country. Other talkbackers don't seem to realize that. i think water prices are reasonable and that overall, the tax is a good idea-- although they shouldn't apply 4-person standards to an 8-person household.

if this is the outcome because people were allowed to water their grass then it is appaling.... indenial, totally

Where are the water savers the government promised to distribute free of charge?

That's what child allowances are for. Nobody should be given a pass.