introduction

Introduction
Israel's water serves several national objectives: developing settlements, population distribution, and raising the standard of living. The prevailing ideology of the Zionist movement before the establishment of the State, of reversing the Jewish employment pyramid in the Diaspora, led to the agricultural basis of various types of rural settlements throughout the country. To this end, water was a necessity. Over the years this ideology has weakened in favor of individual welfare. Concomitantly, the population of Israel, the West Bank and Gaza grew and the standard of living rose, all of which affected the water resources.
The tacitly agreed-upon policy, traditionally prevalent in Israel, of creating a long-term balance between the utilization of water resources and the potential of available water, could not meet consumer pressure, especially the pressure of the agricultural sector. Matters culminated in a severe water crisis in 2001, which was manifested by the water level dropping below the red lines in the Sea of Galilee as well as in the mountain and coastal aquifers. This, along with the pollution of most of Israel's streams and ground water, nearly destroyed the water resources. These events necessitate a change in the water management strategy, assuming that our region will gradually dry up as part of a global process and that Israel will continue to transfer water resources to neighboring countries following peace agreements and other accords.