In a place that doesn't have much water, they're planting trees? This is the stupidest thing imaginable. Deserts don't become forests via tree planting - even in Israel, river water is diverted to water its farms. Aquifers are a finite resource - it's truly nutty to think desertification could be slowed down via tree-planting when in fact, this speeds up desertification. This is exactly why human settlements have vanished in the past - they used up their water supply and had to leave.
The whole area became liveable only at the end of the Ice Age when the melting glaciers created river valleys. When the glaciers completely melted, the river valleys and lakes dried up...and,continue to do so to this day.
Israel also manages its water, using trickle irrigation, including technology which senses when the leaves are running dry, causing the tree to literally water itself. Of course, Israel’s irrigated trees are producers of fruit, not just pine or whatever.
Might have known.