Moving water from last to first in the Middle East peace process

ABSTRACT

Differences about fresh water rarely if ever lead to war between neighbouring nations. However, lack of agreement about equitable water use will sooner or later disrupt water management systems. Similarly, unless fresh water is managed sustainably by both nations, their social and economic development will lag, with ultimate effects on any peace agreement. This Viewpoint describes an existing proposal for joint approaches by Israel and Palestine to managing their transboundary water, as well as current unilateral actions by the two governments that work against equitable and sustainable water management.

KEYWORDS:

• Middle East
• peace process
• transboundary water
• Israel and Palestine
• water governance and management

Acknowledgments

The authors recognize the assistance of the Palestinian, Jordanian and Israeli offices of EcoPeace Middle East in the preparation of the book by Brooks, Trottier and Giordano (2020). This Viewpoint is based in part on Chapters 5 and 7 of that book and in part on more recent developments in the region.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.