The first $900-million phase of a mammoth project to pump water from the Red Sea to the shrinking Dead Sea on the Israel-Jordan border—along with boosted water and power supply facilities for the region—has attracted design-construction proposals from teams that include 17 global firms.

With financing agreed between Israel and one of its largest corporations, preliminary planning has begun on an estimated $600-million project to build what could be one of the world's longest conveyors.