Book Quote: War and Water

From Tragedy in South Lebanon: The Israeli-Hezbollah War of 2006 by Cathy Sultan (page 77):

The issue of water, or the lack thereof, is an urgent one for Israel....When war did in fact break out in 1967, the water issue was among major Israeli concerns in launching a preemptive attack. With purposeful planning, Israeli tanks and troops stationed across the proposed route effectively completed Israel's encirclement of the headwaters of the Upper Jordan, which include the West Bank. It's seizure of Syria's Golan Heights assured Israeli protection for the Lake Tiberias (Sea of Galilee) pumping works while the take-over of Gaza gave Israel plentiful water supplies....

Israel's ecology varies from semi-arid to complete desert, yet it has intense water needs. These are fulfilled primarily by three sources. The Sea of Galilee provides over a third of Israel's water. Another third comes from two aquifers--large, geographical areas of subterranean catchments where water accumulates. These lie beneath the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, precisely the territories seized in the 1967 war.