Mekorot-Acea water deal accused of apartheid in Palestinian territories

Journalists Dora Farina and Marianna Donadio won the 2025 Roberto Morrione award for their investigation “Acqua in bocca”, which examines a memorandum of understanding between Israeli water company Mekorot and Italy’s Acea, 51% owned by the Rome municipality. The agreement, whose text is not publicly accessible, is alleged to enable Mekorot to extract water from occupied Palestinian territories and distribute it unequally between Israel and Palestine. Farina described the practice as “a genocidal strategy of control” that amounts to water apartheid.

The investigation also highlights a component of the deal involving waste‑management expertise exchange, framed as circular‑economy cooperation. The findings were presented at the 10 000 books at Borgo event in Bisceglie, Italy, with support from a local Amnesty International group.