Editorial Type:
Article Category: Research Article
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Online Publication Date: 24 Feb 2011

Water for Peace in the Middle East: The Sacrifice of Irrigated Agriculture in Israel?

Page Range: 97 – 112
DOI: 10.5555/arwg.3.2.g0442174636452j8
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Although the “land for peace” issue is generally considered to be at the heart of any solution to the bitter disputes between Arabs and Israelis, other approaches might well act as catalysts. In this paper the transfer of water from Israel to its Arab neighbours is advocated as a means of promoting the peace process. The idea would be to reallocate water away from low-value irrigated agriculture in Israel and to sell this water to the West Bank and Jordan. (The use of the term “to sell” in the previous sentence does not suggest implicitly or explicitly that Israel is the rightful and legal owner of the water resources generated in Palestinian and Arab areas that were occupied in the June 1967 war and have been controlled by Israel since that time). Here it could be used to promote rapid economic development in an attempt to raise the GDP per capita of the Arab nations to a level closer to that of Israel. Rising economic standards would promote greater political stability and so improve the strategic situation in Israel. Israel would also benefit from access to wider and growing markets and with less irrigated agriculture the financial drain of subsidies on its economy would be reduced. Israel already has access to sufficient water resources to secure its own economic development over the next decade, even with the proposed transfers to the Arab states.

Bien que la question de la “terre contre la paix” soit considérée comme étant au coeur de toute solution aux conflits amers entre les Arabes et les Israéliens, d'autres approches pourraient agir comme catalyseurs. Dans cet article, le transfert d'eau depuis Israël vers ses voisins arabes est préconisé comme un moyen pour promouvoir le processus de paix. L'idée est de réaffecter l'eau actuellement utilisée en Israël pour l'agriculture irriguée à faible valeur, et de la vendre à la Cisjordanie et à la Jordanie. (L'utilisation du mot “vendre” dans la phrase précédente ne suggère, ni implicitement, ni explicitement, qu'Israël est le propriétaire légitime et légal des ressources en eau issus d'espaces palestiniens ou arabes occupés durant la guerre de juin 1967 et contrôlés par Israël depuis cette date). Cette eau pourrait y être utilisée pour promouvoir un développement économique rapide dans le souci d'augmenter le PIB par habitant des pays arabes et de l'amener à un niveau proche de celui d'Israël. La hausse du niveau économique favoriserait une plus grande stabilité politique et donc améliorerait la situation stratégique d'Israël. Ce dernier bénéficierait également d'un accès à de plus vastes marchés en expansion ; alors qu'avec une agriculture irriguée moins importante, les prélèvements financiers sur son économie pour des subventions seraient limités. Israël a déjà un accès à suffisamment de ressources hydrauliques pour garantir son propre développement économique pour les dix prochaines années, même en tenant compte des transferts d'eau proposés vers les pays arabes.

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