ABSTRACT
The state of Israel was established in 1948 and since that time has been at war with almost all of its Arab neighbours. As such the country provides an interesting case study, permitting insights into the development of water policies and methods of water management. Given its war footing, water had to play an important strategic and ideological role in encouraging the settlement of the countryside. At the same time the country was changing from a traditional society to a materialistic, urban-based society of the 1980s. This change was accompanied by rapid population growth. Part of this growth was the result of natural increase, but even more important was the massive immigration of Jews from the countries of war-torn Europe and more recently from other Middle Eastern states. This meant that water policies had to cope with a change in emphasis from a country in which agriculture was a key element in the national economy, to one where the urban/ industrial lifestyle (with its high standard of living and growing consciousness of pollution issues) has become the dominant one. As if these changes were not in themselves enough, it has to be remembered that Israel is an arid country with a limited and finite resource base. In recent years this has posed increasingly difficult choices as to which water management policies should be pursued.
