The Litani River: the key to Lebanon's economic rebirth and political stability

As early as 1954, General Moshe Dayan advocated Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon up to the Litani River. In the new Jewish settlements, agriculture is seen as essential and requires vast quantities of water. It has been predicted that by the year 2000, Israel's annual water deficit will reach 800 million m³. Given this, the occupation of Southern Lebanon would appear to be a means of settling Israels' growing water problems. Can the Litani be shared? Political instability in Lebanon and its own high water demand seem to indicate that it cannot. With up to 85% of Lebanon's rural population not having adequate access to sanitary facilities and the water-distribution network badly damaged from the war, the use of the Litani's waters would be beneficial to the country from an energy, industrial and agricultural standpoint. Coerced sharing of the water resource could on the contrary exacerbate tensions and plunge the country into another cycle of violence. -from English summary