Water Usage Perspectives and Proposals for Israel/Palestine

Water conflicts reach back as far as Old Testament times. Abraham and Isaac had their quarre

ls with Abimelech, king of the Philistines over rights to well waters. This points to the fact that it has always been a challenge for our people. We need to recognize that one major dimension of our current conflict with the Palestinians is water, the major source of which is the Jordan River. It is then joined by the Yarmuk, which flows in from the east thus forming our border between Syria and Jordan for almost 40 km before defining our other main border. I need not reiterate its importance in this regard nor the fact that the Jordan River has its headwaters in three separate countries. The Hasbani River in Lebanon, the Banyas in Syria and the Dan, which originates here in Israel. This water system comprises almost one third of our water, Jordan also relies heavily upon it as well, getting almost two-thirds of its water from the Jordan. Most of our country’s water for can be found in aquifers. The two most important aquifers are the Coastal Plains Aquifer, which runs along the coast in Gaza and south Israel, and the Yarkon-Taninim Aquifer, which runs “under the mountains of Israel and the West Bank and thus straddles the Green Line.”(Tepler-283) The important thing to remember about aquifers is the fact that they are replenishable sources of water and are less likely to be exposed to intense evaporation during the summer months. However aquifers are delicate in another sense. Our researchers have discovered that because these aquifers have a close proximity to the ocean and are incased in rocks with high mineral content, the chances of them being overused and thus becoming saline and having high mineral content are dangerous. These water resources cannot be used without supervision of some kind; our unmitigated fighting over them is bound to lead to their exploitation and eventual ruin. Now that we know the major sources of water, I would like to take a look at the different needs of the surrounding countries that also depend on it.

After the 1967 war, even greater problems arose. During that short period of time, Israel acquired great portions of land. Authority over the water in the West Bank most especially in the aquifers underlying the West Bank became a major point of conflict. As it was by now our territory, it was then our responsibility to administer over the water systems. (Talel-290) Then we began to hear criticism as to whether we were fairly distributing that water to the Arabs in the West Bank. Such criticisms were obviously unfounded. Israel had taken measures to provide the Arabs in the West Bank with enough water. Israel issued licenses to farmers for the use of water in the area and did not reduce Arab supply. We were careful to be impartial in the issuing of these permits, and allowed Arabs in those areas with the most salinity to draw more water annually. In the south the Arabs were digging water with no regard for the amount of water available, and in Gaza were drawing 128MCM a year when there was only enough for 50MCMs a year. (Talel-292) Seawater was seeping into the wells, minerals were contaminating the water, and only with careful administration by our Israeli agencies would their many groves survive. We also greatly improved public water systems in the West Bank. Arabs refute all these claims saying that Israelis have consistently enjoyed a much greater proportion of the water of the area, to the point that Arabs in Gaza and the West Bank were suffering. They argue that Arabs who forced into farming for their livelihood during the war of 1948 don’t even have enough water to support themselves in agriculture any more. Those for the Arab cause point to the Zionist efforts to water the Negev and “make the desert bloom” were an impractical utterly frivolous use of the water. (Star-25) It is true that Israel subsidizes water for its citizens. Arabs could conceivable participate, but they resist. In doing so they would legitimize our control over them, and few are willing to do this.

Some topics in this essay:
West Bank, Green Line”Tepler-283, Report Israel, Middle East, Jordan Valley, Middle Eastern, Lebanon Syria, Technical Committee, Mediterranean Jordan, Sea Galilee, west bank, sea galilee, jordan river, jordan valley, water negev, water resources, water rights, water jordan, amount water, middle east, arabs west bank, amount ground water, canals jordan valley, national water carrier, building canals jordan,