Water, geopolitics and state building: the case of Israel.

The first process was geopolitical, and had to do with the need to provide security for the fledgling state from external threats. This included not only threats to the Israel’s existence, but also threats to the economic well being of its population and its capacity for future growth through the absorption of large segments of the Jewish Diaspora. Water issues were central to Israel’s geopolitical considerations, and the earlier British and Zionist desire to control the maximum number of possible water sources, ultimately resulted in the demarcation of what would, in 1948, become Israel’s northern and northeastern borders. The northeastern border would later be revised in 1967 in part as a result of threats to Israel’s water supply. Hence, the need to secure water resources played a crucial role in Israel’s geopolitical calculus with respect to its border with Syria.