Israel Threatens War With Lebanon Over Water Project

by N Janardhan

That belief comes to mind again in the wake of an Israeli threat on Sept. 11 that a Lebanese plan to pump water from the Wazzani, a border river, could constitute grounds for war.

Israel opposes Lebanon's plans to divert to around 20 southern villages the waters of the Wazzani -- a tributary of the Hasbani River -- that flows from Lebanon into the Sea of Galilee, Israel's main source of drinking water. The Hasbani supplies between 20 and 25 percent of the water in the Sea of Galilee.

The dispute has been brewing for over a year since Beirut announced a plan to install 16 kilometers of 40-centimeter-wide cast-iron pipes to divert the waters. The project is now complete, waiting for water to start flowing from the Wazzani.

The Israeli army has been monitoring the project, notably after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon warned a week ago that Israel could go to war over the issue. Foreign Minister Shimon Peres described Lebanon's project as an "unnecessary provocation."

Despite Israeli threats, Lebanese President Emile Lahoud has promised not to yield, saying that water diversion project is a "definitive and irreversible decision".

"They cannot prevent us from applying the international agreements and conventions that govern the rights of states to use water sources on their own territory," Lahoud said on the Middle East Broadcasting Corp channel.

The situation is explosive also due to the presence in the religion of the Shiite Muslim resistance force Hezbollah, largely credited with forcing Israel out of south Lebanon in May 2000 after a 22-year occupation.

Already, Israeli troops are threatening to open fire on laborers working on the project.

The Iranian and Syrian-backed Hezbollah has said the Wazzani plan is a "new victory" and vowed to hit back in kind if Israel makes good its war plans. The group has already fired at Israeli warplanes flying over the region.

In relatively dry Middle East and North Africa, water rights is a thorny subject. The region accounts for 6.3 percent of the world's population but only has 1.4 percent of the world's renewable fresh water.

Indeed, countries have resorted to arms in the past to secure access to water. In 1964, Arab countries tried to divert water from the River Jordan, which flows into Israel. Pumps were at the time under construction in Lebanon, on the Hasbani, as well as in Syria and Jordan.

Israel destroyed the sites with artillery and air strikes.

Likewise, one of the many aspects of the Iran-Iraq war between 1980-88 was the bid to control the Shaat Al Arab waterway, which is still unresolved.

In the present scenario, Washington is worried that any escalation of the Lebanon-Israel water conflict would sabotage its strategy against Iraq. A team of U.S. experts began examining the Lebanese project on Monday in a bid to defuse the tension.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Tuesday that more American experts would be sent in to judge "whether what is happening is consistent with rules, regulations and agreements that have been made over the years. We don't want to see a new crisis develop" amid the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Iraq-U.S. standoff.

According to political analyst P V Vivekanand: "It is part of the pattern that Israel has set since 1948 to maintain its domination of water in the region. There is no doubt that Israel would use its army and various security agencies to sabotage the Lebanese project through whatever means it deems fit, covert or otherwise."

It is absurd to hear Israel talk about Lebanon's "violation of international agreements" and "unilateral step liable to harm Israel's water reserves," said Vivekanand, the editor of an English-language daily in the United Arab Emirates.

"Given its blatant refusal to abide by international norms and laws over Palestine, Israel does not qualify itself to even refer to international conventions and agreements," he added in an interview.

The per capita water consumption in Israel is several times that of its Arab neighbors, including the Palestinians, whose West Bank water resources account for up to 30 percent of all water consumed in Israel. But Israel itself suffers water shortages.

"Israelis get an average of one cubic metre of water daily per person, compared with 0.2 cubic metre that the Palestinians get," said Vivekanand.

Ali Shaath, undersecretary at the Planning and International Cooperation Ministry of the Palestinian Authority said that 85 percent, or 483 million cubic metres, of underground water in the West Bank is being exploited by Israel.

"It also draws 50 million cubic metres of water from the Gaza Strip, which meets 25 percent of Israel's requirement," he explained in an interview.

"One of the main factors behind Israel's refusal to reach a peace deal with Syria by returning the occupied Golan Heights is its need for the strategic heights, which is the source of 30 percent water flowing into the Sea of Galilee," said Shaath.

The problem today is that according to the Americans, both countries had agreed to U.S. intervention. But Lebanon says that these efforts are not a bid at mediation and that any deal should be within the UN framework.

However, analysts say that Israel is unlikely to accept a UN role in the dispute. This would mean that the world body would apply international laws and conventions that may well undercut official Israeli arguments.

"That is where the real danger lurks," said Vivekanand. "While Israelis have admitted that they would not like to engage in military action against Lebanon, it does not rule out covert operations to undermine the project. That could even mean blowing up the Wazzani pipeline."