The Jerusalem Post | By David Newman | September 18, 2002 It is a coincidence that on the very day I sit down to write a review of a new book on the Middle East water question for an academic journal, the news is full of the Lebanese attempts to divert the waters of the River Wazzani from flowing into Israel. The situation has caused great tension along Israel's northern border and the Israeli government has sent clear warnings to Lebanon that it will not sit idly by and watch the already depleted water supply of the country become even smaller.
It is reminiscent of the situation which existed back in 1966, when the Syrian government attempted to construct a dam on the River Yarmouk and divert water from flowing freely into the River Jordan basin. The air force was sent into action. The dams, in their early stages of construction, were destroyed and the Israeli government made it clear that any further attempts to tamper with the natural flow of river water into Israel would be seen as a legitimatecasus belli. It is equally reminiscent of the accusations leveled against Israel following the invasion of Lebanon in 1982. The Lebanese government argued that Israel's refusal to withdraw from Southern Lebanon was nothing to do with the threat of Palestinian terrorism, but because Israel was intent on diverting some of the waters from the River Litani southwards into Israel, and thus increase the amount of water available. Following Israel's withdrawal from this region, no evidence was found of any attempt to construct diversion canals or tunnels, although the theory was widespread at the time and received much international publicity.
Though the Wazzani is a small river, how international law treats water disputes can be seen from the record concerning the region's great rivers.
THE MIDDLE EAST has three great rivers which bring large amounts of water from one country into another. The Tigris and Euphrates originate in Turkey, from where they flow through Syria and Iraq. There have been localized incidents between Turkey and Syria concerning the exploitation and usage of water, but given Turkey's overall water surplus this has never developed into a full-scale confrontation.
The third great river of the region is the Nile, flowing through Sudan and into Egypt. When, in the past, Sudan considered unilateral diversionary construction for some of the Nile waters, Egypt was quick to threaten immediate military action, thus putting an end to any such plans on the part of its weaker neighbor to the south.
But the issue of water geopolitics between Israel and its neighbors cannot be compared to that of the Tigris, Euphrates or Nile. The government's attempt to suggest that the diversion of the Wazzani waters is the reason for our chronic water shortage is a red herring. The amount of water which could potentially be diverted is relatively small and, while it does make an important contribution to the country's water resources and cannot be given up, will do absolutely nothing to solve the growing water crisis in the country.
Clearly, Israel cannot allow any of its neighbors - Syria or Lebanon - to undertake actions which would make the already bad water situation even worse. But to divert the public's attention from the real water problem - namely bad planning and ineffectual implementation on the part of every single government since the establishment of the state - is to once again avoid the real problem.
For 50 years we have talked about the water problem. For the past decade we have watched as annual precipitation declines, as populations grow and, as the domestic consumption of each family increases, we have talked, talked and talked, but done absolutely nothing.
Israeli expertise has constructed a modern desalination plant in Cyprus, but we have never got around to actually building one for ourselves. We have discussed importing water through a pipeline from Turkey, the construction of a canal linking the Red and Dead seas along the Arava Valley, cutting the amounts of water available to agriculture, and the need for conservation at home - talked, talked and talked but done absolutely nothing.
The book I am reviewing, by one of the undoubted international experts on the topic - Professor Tony Allan of the University of London - argues (unlike most of the recent books on the topic) that focusing on the geopolitics of the water crisis is no more than an excuse used by governments throughout the region to cover up for their own failures to create the institutions and the economic climate which would allow more efficient exploitation of this limited resource, preferably in coordination with the neighboring states. This is as true for Israel as it is for the less-developed countries of the region.
While Lebanon cannot be allowed to unilaterally divert the flow of the Wazzani waters, neither can the Israeli government once again use this as an excuse for doing nothing where it really counts.
If there ever was a case for the setting up of a national commission of inquiry into a planning failure, then it is over the inability to provide solutions to the country's growing water problem. No amount of political disputes with our neighbors over small rivers can change that hard fact.
The writer is professor of political geography at Ben- Gurion University of the Negev and editor of the International Journal of Geopolitics.The Jerusalem Post:
