The Water War

Cautiously an Israeli patrol advanced along the narrow gravel road, sweeping for mines. Immediately to its left were the bubbling springs that form the headwaters of the River Dan. A few feet to its right, a white plastic ribbon marked the Syrian border. From the grey stone hills beyond, two shots rang out, and suddenly the whole area erupted into battle. Syrian mortar shells fell on three Israeli villages; Israeli jets bombed two Syrian settlements. Altogether, 10 people were killed and 37 wounded.

It was one of the worst outbreaks of Israeli-Arab violence since the 1956 Sinai-Suez crisis, and it brought the U.N. Security Council into emergency session. What the council heard about seemed to be a battle of inches. Accusing Israel of "wanton aggression," Syria's U.N. Ambassador Rafik Asha charged that the gravel road on which the Israeli patrol had been traveling was 50 yards inside the Syrian border. Not so, replied Israeli Ambassador Michael Comay angrily: according to a 1962 U.N. survey, the road is seven yards from the border, and on the Israeli side.

The real issue was not the road at all, but water. Israel and the Arab states are contending for the Jordan River waters, and the Dan in turn supplies half the total volume of the Jordan. Biblically, the headwaters were granted to Israel by a divine deed registered in the Book of Judges. Historically, Israel's claims go back to a 1923 agreement when the headwaters were placed inside Palestine. The trouble is that the Syrian-Israel border was vaguely drawn and has been disputed ever since.

Syrian President Amin Hafez recently has been calling for war against Israel "at the earliest date." Such Arab threats--and Israeli counterthreats-- have been heard before. Nevertheless, the water war seems to be heading for a showdown.

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