Emergy Analysis of Israel and Palestine

The present conflict between the people of Israel and the people of Palestine has been going on for the last 125 years. The source of the quarrel has deep historical roots and has been attributed to differences in religious beliefs and customs, the conflict of the dreams and destinies that the two peoples hold for a single land, and to a self-perpetuating cycle of vengeance for violent acts, in which one violent act breeds another in response. While these causes are real, there is another dimension to the conflict, which must be considered if there is to be peace for these two peoples in the future. Both populations depend on a shared resource base for their survival and prosperity. Israel and the Occupied Territories of the West Bank and Gaza share important environmental resources, such as, the Jordan River, the Mountain aquifers, and the Dead Sea. An emergy analysis was conducted to assess the renewable and nonrenewable resources available to these two entities in common terms, and to determine how these resources are being divided and used by each. Emergy is all the energy of one kind previously used up both directly and indirectly in making a natural or economic product or service. Emergy provides the basis for documenting and equating all quantities within an environmental accounting system, which we used to analyze and compare the two entities. Israel’s emergy indices show it to be the most developed economy within a group of surrounding Middle East countries. In contrast, the Occupied Territories are relatively undeveloped and totally dependent on trade with Israel and the largess of the rest of the world. The relative economic and political positions of Israel and the Occupied Territories reflect the distribution and disposition of scarce and contested resources within the area. The contested real wealth in environmental resources appears to be a primary, underlying motivation for the current conflict between the people of Israel and the people of Palestine and for the reluctance of both sides to settle their differences peacefully. We argue that coming to terms with this condition and agreeing to manage the common resource base together offers a way toward a peaceful and prosperous future for the two peoples.