Throughout the years, many attempts were made to advance an overall Middle East peace settlement between Israel and its neighbors. Presently, only a fragile peace exists between Israel and the Arab countries Egypt and Jordan. The main obstacle to advancing the progress of peace in the region is the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. In this dispute, the core issues are: borders, refugees, Jerusalem and water. It is this last issue's relationship to the peace process that will be discussed in this paper. Even though the essential need for a minimum quantity of clean water is understood and recognized by all parties to the conflict, there have not been any successful efforts to separate the issue of water from all, of the other core issues. That is, while every discussion of peace treaties includes a discussion of water, there has been no regional move toward unilaterally addressing the need for regional cooperative water management. On the other hand, new, modern technologies for water production, treatment and recycling could serve as a driving force to try once again to revive the effort to produce a regional water solution. Aided by the personal experience of one of the authors (Dr. Shmuel Brenner), who served as the environmental affairs representative for Israel to the 1995 Oslo peace talks, this paper briefly outlines water and water management in the Middle East, discusses the water aspect of the regional conflict and reflects on how the peace processes have related to water. Finally, it suggests options for progress under the challenging present circumstances.
展开▼
