Water, Agriculture and Zionism: Exploring the

Interface between Policy and Ideology

Clive Lipchin, Director of Research

Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, Israel

www.arava.orgAmerican Society for Environmental History

2006 Annual MeetingJoint Conference

St. Paul, Minnesota

March 29-April 2, 2006

Water, Agriculture and Zionism: Exploring the Interface between

Policy and Ideology

Israel's Water Resources - What are they, where are they and what is their condition?Water as ideologyThe Rise and Dominance of AgricultureIsraeli Water Policy and Decision-makingThe Decline of Agriculture Local Perceptions on water, agriculture and ZionismRethinking Zionist Ideology

Study Area3 Major Sources:

Jordan River System / Kinneret

Mountain Aquifer

Coastal Aquifer

Chronic Water Chronic Water ScarcityScarcityTotal renewable supply: 1600 mcm/yr

Water Availability:

~ 270-300 m3/cap/yr (340 w/sewage)

For Reference:

<1000 m3/cap/yr - Water Poor

<500 m3/cap/yr - Chronic Water Scarcity

U.S. => 9,710 m3/cap/yr

World average 7,000 m3/cap/yr

Jordan => 230 m3/cap/yr (245 w/sewage)

Palestinians => 95 m3/cap/yr

Lebanon => 1,300 m3/cap/yr

Water Supply and Demand in the Middle East (Israel, PA, Jordan)

Data Source: Tahal

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

2000 2010 2040

Year

mcm

/yea

r

Supply

Demand

Israel’s Water Deficit

Year Population (inmillions)

Waterconsumption (mcm

per year)A

Renewable freshwater supply (mcm

per year)1991 4.4 2,100-2,200 1,9502010 6.02015 6.3 2,800-2,900 2,060 C

2020 6.4 B

A: Including Golan heights and Jewish Settlements in West BankB: Immigration of Soviet Jews during the 1990s will increase the 2020 population figureby about 1 million.C: Excluding West Bank and Gaza Strip

Source: Lowi, M.R. (1993) Water and Power: The Politics of a Scarce Resource in the Jordan River Basin. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Water level of the mountain aquifer (Source: Israel Environment Bulletin 23 (2): Spring 2000, Ministry of the Environment).

Water as Ideology

Objectives of Zionism Population

Pro-immigration and pro-natality policies A Jewish demographic reality

Mode of Life Rural Cooperative

Territory Redemption of the land through agriculture Conquering the unsettled He who works the land has rights and ownership to

it Establishing borders and protecting the periphery

Agriculture has been influenced by socio-religious doctrine

“The construction of the country has its central basis in agriculture, which for all other nations is just an

essential economic factor. But for the nation whose being is all sacred, and whose country and language are

all sacred…even its agriculture is soaked in sacredness…”

Rabbi A. Y. H. Kook, first chief rabbi of Palestine, 1937

Water as Ideology

Environmental Perceptions Helped Shape Agricultural and Water Development

Romantic RuralismInitial pioneers glorified the renewal of the relationship between the Jew and soilBiblical romanticismRejection of the Jewish character in the ghetto

But the environment was actually quite harsh – a cause for anxiety

Ethos of DevelopmentMastering the alien environment hence overcame anxietyA means to socialize new immigrants through co-operative effort

Wake up, O sand, because cement is attacking you/stone and cement/a hand full of iron/a path is paved/a city sings a song

Nathan Alterman, 1934

Water as Ideology

The Rise and Dominance of Agriculture

Water project construction for agriculture was guided by ideological (ethos of development) and geopolitical considerations in which economic factors were only of secondary significance and with scant environmental considerations.

…the water of the Jordan flows down to the Dead Sea, and the Yarkon water flows to the Mediterranean…even the rains, plentiful in the north and minimal in the south, flow wasted, in large measures to the Mediterranean or the Dead Sea, without fully benefiting the thirsty soil.

David Ben Gurion, 1956

Israel’s first prime minister

Large-Scale Public Works: The National

Water Carrier

•Diminished flows to the Jordan River

•Shrinking of the Dead Sea

•Degradation of Water Quality in Sea of Galilee

Israeli Water Policy and Decision-Making

Developed within a socio-political system rather than a market system

Extremely centralized Ministry of Agriculture until recently appointed the water

commissioner who is responsible for water allocations, distribution and pricing

Since 1996 the water commissioner has been appointed by the Ministry of Infrastructure not the Ministry of Environment

All water is managed by the national water company established in 1959, Mekorot, that supplies water to all sectors and sets prices primarily based on quality and not quantity

Israel Water Law established in 1959, annulled private ownership of all water resources and placed their management with the state

Agricultural interests largely in concurrence with the water commissioner and the Ministry of Agriculture

Water for Agriculture in Israel and Palestine

  Israel Palestine (West Bank/Gaza)

Water Consumption by Sector (in %):

   

Agriculture 63 62

Industrial 6 38

Domestic 31  

Arable Land in % of total surface area

21 27/45%**

Irrigated Land in % of total cropland

50 6/58%**

Irrigation water* in cubic meters/capita

220 80

*Approximately 30% is treated wastewater

**The first data refer to the West Bank, the second to the Gaza Strip

Adapted from: Libiszewski, S. (1995). Water disputes in the Jordan Basin Region and their role in the Resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict (ENCOP Occasional Paper No.: 13): Center for Security Policy and Conflict Research/Swiss Peace Foundation.

Managing the Water Budget

Reducin g A llocat ion to A griculture

Pum ping from Reservoirs

Reducin g A llocat ion to R eservoirs

A llocation ac ross sectors :Agriculture, Urb an, Reservoirs

Priority to the urban sector but with guarantees to agriculture:

•Hydrological subsidies

•Price distortions

•Domestic protectionism

•Tariffs and import quotas

Water for the future

A buffer against discrepancies

Discounting the future

Ensuring promised water to agriculture

Recently reduced by 50%

Heavy compensation for farmers

All cuts considered temporary until conditions improve

Local Perceptions on Water, Agriculture and

Zionism

Representative sample of kibbutz residents in the southern AravaOver 250 people sampledOnly adults over the age of eighteen

Study Area

Aerial Photograph of Kibbutz Ketura

Residential Area

Dairy

Date Orchards

Field CropsWastewater treatment ponds

Kibbutz - An Artificial Oasis in the Arava Desert

Agricultural Pursuits in the Southern Arava

Date Orchards

Field Crops

Dairy Farming

At the Local Level

At the Local Level

Table 5: Responses (in percentage) by residents of kibbutzim in the Arava Valley to questions about water, agriculture and ideological values (n=249).

Statement Yes No Don't know Do you think the date palms help to beautify the desert landscape

85.54 10.74 3.72

Do you think the green fields of the fruit and vegetable crops help to beautify the desert landscape

71.07 21.49 7.44

Survey Question:

Agriculture is Important for the National Security

of the State, Even if it means Using a Lot of

Water

106103644136362341N =

Community

Yahel

New e Harif

Neot Smadar

Eilot

Elifaz

Samar

Yotvata

Grophit

Lotan

Ketura

Re

spo

nse

6

5

4

3

2

1

0

Agriculture is Important for the National Security of the State, Even if it means Using a Lot of Water

A relationship exists between local and national ideology (Linear-by-Linear Association=7.759, p=0.005)

7 out of 10 kibbutzim agree, but within variation exists

Survey Question:

Agriculture is Necessary as a Means of Making a

Living in the Arava Valley

106103644136362341N =

Community

Yahel

New e Harif

Neot Smadar

Eilot

Elifaz

Samar

Yotvata

Grophit

Lotan

Ketura

Re

spo

nse

6

5

4

3

2

1

0

Agriculture is Necessary as a Means of Making a Living in the Arava ValleyA relationship exists between local and national ideology (Pearson chi-square=76.8, p<0.001)7 out of 10 kibbutzim agree to strongly agree with this statement

Ideology at the Local Level is Strong Despite ...…

…And at the National Level Domestic and industrial sectors are expanding Population of approximately 6 million is set to double in the

next 27 years Israel can import much of its agricultural needs from abroad

Decline in Agriculture At its height in 1941, the Jewish rural population was 29% and has

been declining ever since Agriculture’s contribution to GDP in 1991 was 3% Agricultural labor force in 1990-92 (as a share of total employment)

was 4% Agriculture’s share of total exports in 1990 was 2.5% Less than 10% of kibbutz and moshav members work in agriculture

Reforming Agricultural Policy Decentralize water policy

Privatize some operations Transform water commissioner to a planning and regulatory agent Restructure Mekorot as an inter-regional water conveyance

operation Local control in water supply

Market based policies Price elasticity is high in agricultural sector – increase water rates

to farmers, that is scale back subsidies => reduce water consumption

Price inelastic in domestic sector => shift water supply to domestic arena

Property rights Liberalize trading policies (e.g.: export of flowers – “Europe’s

Winter Greenhouse”) Removal of expensive domestic agricultural products from

production (e.g.: citrus) Protect agricultural land as open space Increase and improve wastewater treatment

…And Back to the National Level

“…water is not merely an economic resource but a means of settling the periphery, protecting state land and a means of conserving farmers and farming.”

Ariel Sharon

Haaretz Newspaper, April 19, 2001

Sustainable Water Use Scenario

P u m p fro m rese rvo irs

R e d uce a llo ca tion s to re servo irs

R e d uce a llo ca tio n s to ag ricu ltu re

A llo ca tio n a cro ss se c to rsA g ricu ltu re , U rba n , R ese rvo irs

•Decentralized policies

•Market based system

•Scaling back subsidies

•New technologies e.g.: desalination

•Demand management

Rethinking Zionism

Objectives of Zionism

Mode of life Over 90% of the population is urban Capitilasim rules!

Territory 60% of the country remains desert – “the desert has yet to

bloom” Most of the population lives along the coastal plain Center of the country has one of the highest population densities

in the world Borders remain unconfirmed

Yet the ideals of Zionism still resonate strongly at both the national and local levels