246 MIDDLE EASTERN NATURAL ENVIRONMENTSFigure 9 (Wolf 1995)help Jordan build a dam on <strong>the</strong> Yarmuk. They also made tentativemilitary plans to defend <strong>the</strong> diversion project (Shemesh 1988).In 1964, Israel began withdrawing 320 MCM/yr of flow from <strong>the</strong>Jordan water into its National Water Carrier <strong>and</strong> Jordan completeda major phase of its East Ghor Canal (Inbar <strong>and</strong> Maos 1984). InNovember 1964, <strong>the</strong> <strong>Arab</strong> states began construction of <strong>the</strong>ir Head-BULLETIN 103
WOLF 247water Diversion Plan to prevent <strong>the</strong> Jordan headwaters from reachingIsrael. The plan was to divert <strong>the</strong> Hasbani into <strong>the</strong> Litani inLebanon <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Banias into <strong>the</strong> Yarmuk where it would be impoundedfor Jordan <strong>and</strong> Syria by a dam at Mukheiba. The measurewould divert up to 125 MCM/y, <strong>the</strong>reby cutting by 35% <strong>the</strong> installedcapacity of <strong>the</strong> Israeli Carrier <strong>and</strong> increasing <strong>the</strong> salinity in <strong>the</strong> Sea ofGalilee by ~60 ppm (Unpublished memor<strong>and</strong>um, U.S. CentralIntelligence Agency, May 1962). In March, May, <strong>and</strong> August of1965, Israeli tanks attacked <strong>the</strong> diversion works in Syria. The finalincident, which involved both Israeli tanks <strong>and</strong> aircraft on July 14,1966, stopped Syrian construction.These events set off what has been called “a prolonged chainreaction of border violence that linked directly to <strong>the</strong> events that ledto <strong>the</strong> (June 1967) war” (Safran, cited in Cooley 1984).Boundaries Following <strong>the</strong> 1967 WarThe boundaries following <strong>the</strong> 1967 war, determined by an unsignedcease-fire agreement, have generally held until very recently.The boundary between Israel <strong>and</strong> Lebanon, which was not involvedin <strong>the</strong> war, remained <strong>the</strong> international boundary of 1923; <strong>the</strong>boundary between Israel <strong>and</strong> Syria extended well beyond <strong>the</strong> Armisticeline <strong>and</strong> demilitarized zones of 1949 to include <strong>the</strong> plateau of<strong>the</strong> Golan Heights as far as Quneitra 9 ; <strong>the</strong> boundary with Jordanreturned past <strong>the</strong> Green Line of 1949 to <strong>the</strong> 1922 British M<strong>and</strong>atedivision between Palestine <strong>and</strong> Transjordan along <strong>the</strong> Jordan River.In addition to <strong>the</strong> territorial gains <strong>and</strong> improvements ingeostrategic positioning which Israel achieved in <strong>the</strong> war, it alsoimproved its hydrostrategic position. With <strong>the</strong> Golan Heights, itnow held two of <strong>the</strong> three nor<strong>the</strong>rn headwaters as well as highground over much of <strong>the</strong> Yarmuk, toge<strong>the</strong>r making <strong>the</strong> <strong>Arab</strong> HeadwatersDiversion impossible. The West Bank provided riparianaccess to <strong>the</strong> entire length of <strong>the</strong> Jordan River <strong>and</strong> also overlay amajor aquifer system which Israel had been tapping into from its sideof <strong>the</strong> Green Line since 1955 (Garbell 1965). Jordan had endeavoredto transport 70-150 MCM/y from <strong>the</strong> Yarmuk River to <strong>the</strong> West Bank,but given <strong>the</strong> results of <strong>the</strong> war, its plans were ab<strong>and</strong>oned.9There was some change along <strong>the</strong> Israel-Syria border as a consequence of <strong>the</strong> 1974war. During that war, Syrian forces crossedwestward past Quneitra but did notdescend from <strong>the</strong> Golan Heights. Although<strong>the</strong> Israeli counter-attack extended eastagain across Quneitra, <strong>the</strong> town itself wasreturned to Syria following a 1974Disengagement Agreement (Hareven1977; Sachar 1979).THE WAR OF 1982In 1982, Israel mounted its second operation against <strong>the</strong> PalestinianLiberation Organization (PLO) in Lebanon. Its first offensive,named “Operation Litani,” was conducted four years earlier. Then,Israel had stopped its advance at <strong>the</strong> Litani River <strong>and</strong> had turnedover portions of sou<strong>the</strong>rn Lebanon to <strong>the</strong> South Lebanon Army(SLA) under <strong>the</strong> comm<strong>and</strong> of Major Sa’ad Haddad. HaddadYALE F&ES BULLETIN
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