Regional Cooperation Minister Tzachi Hanegbi said Israel is expected to approve the Red Sea-Dead Sea Project with Jordan, according to a report in Bloomberg News.

"This is important for regional cooperation,” Hanegbi said in a phone interview with Bloomberg News. “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was convinced that peace has a price, and he agreed to it.”

The Red Sea-Dead Sea Project, an idea conceived in the early 2000s, is the plan to build a pipeline connecting the Red Sea port of Aqaba to an area by the south-eastern coast of the Dead Sea, both within Jordanian territory. This pipeline would help provide clean drinking water to Jordan. Palestinians would be able to buy desalinated water from the Jordanians. 

“This is the largest joint project in the Middle East between Israel and an Arab state,” Hanegbi said, according to the report. “Jordan has severe water issues and Israel wants to maintain Jordan’s stability. It’s the country with which we have our longest border.”

Jordan and Israel will each pledge $40 million USD a year for 25 years, a total of $2 billion USD for the project, according to the report.

The project would also stabilize the water level of the Dead Sea, which has been shrinking at an rapid rate.

The project would also include the construction of a hydroelectric plant that could provide power to both Israel and Jordan.

According to the report, Hanegbi denied that the announcement is tied to the elections. 

Jordan did not respond to the report. 

The initiative has been delayed for years because of the political tensions between the two countries, specifically the 2017 killing of two Jordanians by an Israeli security guard.