In a letter in the January 2017 issue of Physics Today (page 12), Gabriel Antonius takes offense at a report in the June 2016 issue (page 24) that covers Israel’s innovative water technology. He claims that “a key policy explaining the effectiveness of Israel’s water management” is “monopolizing water in occupied Palestinian territories” by denying Palestinians the right to drill wells or repair existing ones and by destroying wells, irrigation systems, and water lines. The source for that claim is one report from 2009 by Amnesty International, an organization known for anti-Israel incitement1 but certainly not known for its expertise on water use and maintenance. That eight-year-old, biased report has been widely debunked in several detailed documents.2
Since the signing of the Oslo agreements between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization, the amount of fresh water available to the Palestinian Authority (PA) has increased considerably. In fact, if one takes as starting point the year 1967 when Israel gained control over the West Bank, per capita freshwater consumption in the Palestinian-controlled regions of the West Bank increased by more than 30% over the ensuing 40 years, despite a threefold increase in population. In 1967 only 10% of the Palestinian households were connected to the water infrastructure, whereas by 2012 that figure had risen2 to 95%. Furthermore, the joint water committee established in the Oslo accords in 1995 has approved approximately 100 new wells and 55 upgrade requests in the areas under jurisdiction of the PA in the West Bank. The approvals resulted in a 50% increase in annual freshwater availability, to more than 250 million cubic meters—about 10% beyond that called for in the accords.
Careful consideration of the historical, political, and cultural context offers a much clearer insight into the regional water issues than impressions gleaned from a superficial view of the situation. One such study is a scholarly thesis that analyzed the water issue in the context of the political failings on both sides, including internal Palestinian politics that undermined the water agreements.3
Examples of politically motivated impediments to water supply abound.2 For instance, Palestinians refused to accept a donation from foreign donors of a seawater desalination plant on the Israeli coast for their exclusive use.2 They also have refused donations to set up sewage treatment plants, and as a result less than 8% of the sewage from Palestinian towns and cities is treated. Some 30% of the remaining 92% effluents are treated by Israel after flowing into Israel by way of polluted streams; infusion of untreated sewage water—some 33 million cubic meters per year—into the Mountain Aquifer endangers the viability of that important water source. Furthermore, 250 illegal wells dug by Palestinians were documented2,4 from 1995 to 2005, accounting for 10 million cubic meters of water per year. Because the flow of aquifer water is from east to west in the region where those wells were dug, the illegal drilling further endangers the delicate balance required in maintaining underground water quality within Israel.
Gaza is in a far worse situation than the West Bank. Immediately after Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2006, over 3000 unapproved wells were dug, which caused a severe drop in the aquifer level.2 Agricultural methods in Gaza not only waste water, but they also allow fertilizer to enter the already depleted and polluted aquifer. The only solution for Gaza to avoid a true humanitarian crisis is cooperation on resource management with Israel, which looks unlikely now due to lack of political will between the ruling Hamas and Israel. Here again, political impediments have made their mark. A new sewage treatment plant funded by the World Bank is ready for operation in Gaza, but there is no electricity to run it: PA president Mahmoud Abbas has cut off payments for electricity to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.5
In short, without belittling the very real water problems faced by the PA, particularly in Gaza, the picture is much more complex than Israel monopolizing this precious resource. Efforts to improve the situation are taking place, but there are many political obstacles. In fact, rather than, as Antonius says, “tacitly endorsing the brutal oppression of the Palestinian people” by publishing the June 2016 article (as stated by Antonius), the American Institute of Physics has shown the important role scientists can play in improving regional quality of life. Many of the technologies showcased in that article could go a long way toward alleviating the problems.
