The Four Eras of Israeli Water Policies

Israel is considered by many as a paragon of sound water management (e.g., Postal, Last oasis: facing water scarcity, Norton, New York, 1997). Due to the severe water scarcity Israel faces and the relatively high levels of human and social capital it can muster, Israel has successfully implemented policies that are at the forefront of the water policy field. These policies enabled Israel to develop an advanced postindustrial economy and to supply a burgeoning population with high-quality water at the tap on the basis of scarce and contested water resources. Moreover, Israel has succeeded in providing water to an advanced agricultural sector whose product per unit of water has risen rapidly in the past 30 years.