Early tensions: 1949–1964 waterfall,
Golan Heights ,
Israel Following the
1948 Arab–Israeli War, the
1949 Armistice Agreements created three
demilitarized zones on the Israel-Syria border. The southernmost, and also the largest, stretched from the south-eastern part of the
Sea of Galilee eastwards to the
Yarmuk River where the borders of Israel,
Jordan and
Syria converge. The issue of water sharing from the Jordan–Yarmuk system turned out to be a major problem between Israel, Syria and Jordan. Small-scale water-related skirmishes had occurred following the 1949 agreements. In July 1953, Israel began construction of an intake for its National Water Carrier at the Daughters of Jacob Bridge in the demilitarized zone north of the Sea of Galilee. Syria protested to the
United Nations, and Syrian artillery units opened fire on the construction site. The
UN Security Council voted to allow Israel to resume work, but this was
vetoed by the
Soviet Union. The Israelis then moved the intake to an economically inferior site at the Sea of Galilee. In 1955 a
United States-brokered deal, the
Jordan Valley Unified Water Plan (Johnston Plan), was accepted by the technical committees of both Israel and the Arab League, but the Arab League Council decided on 11 October 1955 not to ratify the plan. According to most observers, including US envoy
Eric Johnston, the Arab non-adoption of the plan was not total rejection. While they failed to approve it politically, they nevertheless seemed determined to adhere to the technical details of the agreement. Moreover, it continued to be taken seriously by Arab leaders. Though the Unified Plan failed to be ratified, both Jordan and Israel undertook to operate within their allocation limits.
Main phase: 1964–1967 Israel's
National Water Carrier project included works to pump water from the
Sea of Galilee. Its initial diversion capacity, without supplementary booster pumps, was 320 million m3, well within the limits of the Johnston Plan. The Arab states were not prepared to accept a project which utilized resources that didn't belong to Israel. In January 1964 an
Arab League summit meeting convened in Cairo and decided: The establishment of Israel is the basic threat that the Arab nation in its entirety has agreed to forestall. And since the existence of Israel is a danger that threatens the Arab nation, the diversion of the Jordan waters by it multiplies the dangers to Arab existence. Accordingly, the Arab states have to prepare the plans necessary for dealing with the political, economic, and social aspects, so that if the necessary results are not achieved, collective Arab military preparations, when they are completed, will constitute the ultimate practical means for the final liquidation of Israel. Pumping from the Sea of Galilee commenced in June 1964. In November 1964, the Syrian military fired on Israeli patrols around the National Water Carrier works, drawing Israeli counterattacks. Border clashes ensued, with Syrian forces firing on Israeli farmers and army patrols, and Israeli tanks and artillery destroying Syrian tanks as well as earth-moving equipment used for the diversion plan. In July 1966, the
Israeli Air Force bombed a concentration of earth-moving equipment and shot down a Syrian
MiG-21. The Arab states abandoned the diversion effort, but conflict continued on the Israel–Syria border, including an Israeli air strike into Syrian territory in April 1967. Control of
water resources became a significant factor behind the outbreak of the
Six-Day War in June 1967. The war is referenced in the famous US antiwar 1965 song "
Eve of Destruction" by
Barry McGuire with the line "And even the Jordan River has bodies floatin'". == Headwater Diversion Plan ==