On October 26, 2026, five specialists from Ukraine began training in Israel under the MASHAV program — the international cooperation agency of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The course will last until November 12 and takes place at Kibbutz Shefayim between Tel Aviv and Netanya, at the International Agricultural Training Center MATC. The arrival of the Ukrainian group was announced by the Israeli embassy in Ukraine.
Author: Alexander Khmelnitsky
The delegation includes specialists in environmental management and monitoring, teachers and researchers in land management, geodesy and cadastre, experts in legal support of water management, operation and repair of hydromelioration systems. Behind the latter name are quite specific structures: canals, pumping stations, drainage networks that supply water to fields or divert its excess. To restore such systems, it is not enough to bring a new pump — it is necessary to survey the area, check the land documents, and determine who is responsible for maintenance.
Course in Shefayim: program, duration, and participants
The official name of the course is “Sustainable Management of Water and Land Resources: Israeli Experience, Technologies, and Practical Solutions.” On the MASHAV website, it is listed under code 7322. Applications were accepted until September 15, and classes are conducted in Russian. The program is international, not only for Ukraine: candidates were required to have a relevant higher education and at least three years of professional experience.
Participants are introduced to methods of obtaining and processing water from traditional and non-traditional sources, methods of economical use, purification, and management of water supply in various sectors. Standard MASHAV programs often include visits to enterprises. However, it cannot be announced that the Ukrainian group has already visited certain desalination plants, as there is no published schedule of their trips yet.
According to the published MASHAV conditions, training, accommodation, meals, insurance, and educational trips are paid for by the organizer, while airfare is covered by the participant or sponsor. It was not reported who paid for the travel of these five individuals. The MATC center has been training foreign specialists since 1963; about 100 courses are held annually in the MASHAV system for approximately 2000 listeners. This is not the Haifa MASHAV training center named after Golda Meir.
What Ukraine can learn from Israeli water management
For Israelis, drip irrigation, desalination of seawater, and the company “Mekorot,” which manages a significant part of the national water infrastructure, are familiar. There is also “kolchin” (קולחין) — treated wastewater that is directed for irrigation instead of using drinking water. According to OECD data, Israel reuses more than 87% of treated wastewater, and about 94% of wastewater is collected and treated. According to the organization’s country profile, desalination provides over 40% of urban domestic water supply.
But transferring the Israeli scheme to Ukraine entirely will not work. There is different geography, a different climate, and large areas with damaged infrastructure. Drip irrigation is useless if water does not reach the field; a treatment plant requires electricity, consumables, and personnel. Desalination itself is energy-intensive and leaves a saline concentrate that requires control. Therefore, the program includes not only technologies but also resource management, legal and organizational issues.
This topic already arose in a publication by NANews about the speech of Ukrainian ecologist Leonid Bitsura at the MASHAV alumni meeting in Kyiv, which we wrote about in May 2025. He spoke about Israeli approaches to economical water use and the need to change Ukraine’s water policy.
Cooperation began before the current trip
As early as April 2021, representatives of Ukraine and Israel discussed the training of specialists and the application of Israeli irrigation technologies in southern Ukraine. In September 2022, MASHAV training on water management was completed by employees of the State Agency of Water Resources of Ukraine and the relevant professional development center. The diploma ceremony was attended by the Ambassador of Ukraine to Israel, Yevgeny Korniychuk. These are confirmed negotiations and courses, but not proof of the implementation of all discussed projects.
Assistance was not limited to lectures. In July 2025, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the supply of drinking water systems to areas of Ukraine affected by Russian shelling. In October, equipment was received by the Kyiv Regional Clinical Hospital. On December 22, Israel and MASHAV transferred a water purification unit for a school, kindergarten, and neighboring houses in Vorzel near Kyiv. In the report of the Israeli embassy for 2022–2026, ten water purification kits with a design capacity of up to 100,000 people each are listed. This is a technical specification, not the number of people already receiving water.
Other figures are also provided: more than 3000 participants in online seminars and 250 specialists trained in Israel. They relate to several areas, including psychological assistance and rehabilitation, not exclusively to the water sector.
The separate scale of the problem became apparent after the destruction of the Kakhovka dam on June 6, 2023. The reservoir on the Dnipro supplied water to settlements and irrigation systems in southern Ukraine. According to the UN Environment Program, the environmental consequences of the disaster may be felt for decades. Against this backdrop, specialists in land management and repair of water facilities are needed no less than specialists in water purification.
The names of all five participants and the institutions they represent have not yet been disclosed; there are also no confirmed agreements on new projects specifically as a result of this course. It will end on November 12, and then it will be possible to assess the specific results of the training.