Hydrostrategic Decisionmaking and the Arab ... - Yale University

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226 MIDDLE EASTERN NATURAL ENVIRONMENTSFigure 2 Boundaries proposed for Palestine, 1916-1919 (Weizmann Letters 1968).water resources along the Palestine-Syria border is described byGarfinkle (1994), and along the Palestine-Lebanon frontier by Hof(1985) and by Amery (1996). The following outline of events leadingup to the Anglo-French Convention in 1923 emphasizes only certaindecisions, and is based on the works mentioned above. The interestedreader is referred to that literature for more detail.BULLETIN 103
WOLF 227The Zionist PositionThe Zionists began to formulate their desired boundaries for the“national home” to be determined by three criteria: historic, strategic,and economic considerations (Zionist publications cited inRa’anan 1955).The Jews’ historic concerns coincided roughly with British allusionsto the biblical “Dan to Beersheba” area. The Zionists articulated minimumrequirements which had to be supplemented with territory allowingmilitary and economic security. Military security required desertareas to the south and east as well as the Beka’a Valley, a gateway in thenorth between the Lebanon Mountains and Mount Hermon.Economic security was defined by water resources. The entireZionist program of immigration and settlement required water forlarge-scale irrigation and, in a land with no fossil fuels, for hydropower.The plans were “completely dependent” on the acquisition ofthe “headwaters of the Jordan, the Litani River, the snows of Hermon,the Yarmuk and its tributaries, and the Jabbok” (Ra’anan 1955).In a flurry of communication between world Zionist leaders, theaspects of historic, strategic, and economic security became increasinglylinked with the Jordan headwaters.The guiding force on the boundary position of the Jewish sidewas Aaron Aaronson. In charge of an agricultural experimentalstation at Atlit on the Mediterranean coast, Aaronson’s researchfocused on weather-resistant crops and dry-farming techniques.Convinced that the modern agricultural practices which would fuelJewish immigration were incompatible with “the slothful, brutishOttoman regime” (Sachar 1979), he concluded that Zionist settlementobjectives required alliance with the incoming Allied Forces.Aaronson initiated contact with the British to establish a Jewish spynetwork in Palestine, which would report on Turkish positions andtroop movements. Perhaps because of his training both in agricultureand in security matters, Aaronson became the first to argue forboundary delineation based specifically on future water needs.Aaronson’s “The Boundaries of Palestine” (January 27, 1919, unpublished,Zionist Archives), drafted in less than a day, argued that,Economic security was defined by waterresources. The entire Zionist programof immigration and settlement requiredwater for large-scale irrigation and, in aland with no fossil fuels, for hydropower.The plans were “completelydependent” on the acquisition of the“headwaters of the Jordan, the LitaniRiver, the snows of Hermon, theYarmuk and its tributaries, and theJabbok”.in Palestine, like in any other country of arid and semiaridcharacter, animal and plant life and, therefore, thewhole economic life directly depends on the availablewater supply. It is, therefore, of vital importance not onlyto secure all water resources already feeding the country,but also to insure the possession of whatever can conserveand increase these water—and eventually power—resources.The main resources of Palestine come from theYALE F&ES BULLETIN
Page 1 and 2: WOLF 221Hydrostrategic Decisionmaki
Page 3 and 4: WOLF 223BORDERS, BOUNDARIES, AND HY
Page 5: WOLF 225of international rivers, no
Page 9 and 10: WOLF 229Aaronson thought his ideas
Page 11 and 12: WOLF 231Figure 3 Disputed area, Mar
Page 13 and 14: WOLF 233the Upper Jordan and Yarmuk
Page 15 and 16: WOLF 235Figure 4 United Nations pla
Page 17 and 18: WOLF 237develop a series of impound
Page 19 and 20: WOLF 239Arab state to reflect the m
Page 21 and 22: WOLF 241Figure 6 Rhodes armistice d
Page 23 and 24: WOLF 243Figure 7 Jordan/Yarmuk rive
Page 25 and 26: WOLF 245resources and to provide fo
Page 27 and 28: WOLF 247water Diversion Plan to pre
Page 29 and 30: WOLF 249• The 1979 Litani Operati
Page 31 and 32: WOLF 251In the taking of the Golan
Page 33 and 34: WOLF 253below which the entire lake
Page 35 and 36: WOLF 255string of kibbutzim was est
Page 37 and 38: WOLF 257Figure 11 West Bank groundw
Page 39 and 40: WOLF 259tion and industrial growth,
Page 41 and 42: WOLF 261the quantity and quality of
Page 43 and 44: WOLF 263Israel-Jordan Treaty of Pea
Page 45 and 46: WOLF 265put a stop to illegal drill
Page 47 and 48: WOLF 267which it had occupied from
Page 49 and 50: WOLF 269protect Israel’s groundwa
Page 51 and 52: WOLF 271Fromkin, D. 1989. A peace t
Page 53: WOLF 273Tonkin, E. 1994. Borderline

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