The politics of water in the Middle East : an Israeli perspective on the hydro-political aspects of the conflict / Martin Sherman.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 149-153) and index.

1. Water: a Vital and Scarce Strategic Resource -- 2. Supply and Demand for Water in Israel -- 3. The Dual Menace to Israel's Water Resources: Deteriorating Quantity and Quality -- 4. The Waters of the Mountain Aquifer: An Inevitable Source of Conflict -- 5. The Kinneret: A Vital, Volatile and Vulnerable Water Source -- 6. Middle Eastern Realities: Stable Geology and Volatile Politics -- 7. Will Water Quench or Fuel the Flames of Animosity? -- 8. Arab Recriminations: Separating Fact from Fabrication -- 9. Resolving Conflict over Water: Separating Fact from Fantasy -- 10. The Hydro-Political Significance of the Oslo Accords and 'Peace Process': Policy Options and Imperatives -- App. 1. The Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, Annex III, Article II, Appendix 1, Article 40, Water and Sewage -- App. 2. Treaty of Peace Between the State of Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, 26 October 1994, Article 6, Water --

App. 3. Text of Publications by Israeli Ministry of Agriculture Relating to Hydro-Political Issues.

Will the flames of war in the Middle East be fanned or quenched by water? This is the central question addressed by this unusually forthright book. For, although it is often stressed that water may be a likely focal point of conflict in the Middle East, it is far less frequently acknowledged that implementation of the proposed peace initiatives (the Oslo Accords and calls for Israeli evacuation of the Golan) would inevitably leave almost 70 per cent of Israel's water supply under total Arab control.

In the prevailing political milieu of the Middle East, such a situation would hardly augur a future of tranquil stability for Isreal or the region.