ABSTRACT
Conflicts over utilization of the region's water resources have appeared repeatedly in various stages of the protracted Arab-Israeli conflict, but were never central to it. Agreements on the cooperative use of the region's water resources or indeed, of any other resources, would be a major building block in the construction of peace in the area. Binational and multinational projects for the utilization and distribution of shared water resources rank high in the list of instruments that may bolster the peace process. The quantity of water under discussion is tiny by comparison with Egypt's total water resources, about half a per cent of her consumption, but would be sufficient to solve most of the water problems of the other areas. These waters can be conveyed to the north and east to the Gaza Strip, the Israeli Negev and, in certain conditions, also to the West Bank and Jordan, at a reasonable cost.
