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International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM). 2004. Organic agriculture and biodiversity: Making the links. http://www.ifoam.org/growing_organic/1_arguments_for _oa/environmental_benefits/pdfs/OA_Biodiversity_Links.pdf (accessed July 27, 2009). Kimhi, A. 2004. The rise and fall of Israeli agriculture: Technology, markets, and policy. Rehovot, Israel: Department of Agriculture Economics and Management, Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Kislev, Y. 2001. The water economy of Israel. Discussion paper no. 11.01. Rehovot, Israel: Department of Agricultural Economics and Management, Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Lowi, M. 1993. Water and power: The politics of a scarce resource in the Jordan River Basin. New York: Cambridge University Press. Nativ, R. 2004. Can the desert bloom? Lessons learned from the Israeli case. Ground Water 42:651–657. Pasternick, D. 2002. Report on agricultural research at Ben Gurion University of the Negev. Beer Sheva, Israel. Schwarz, J. 2007. Water resources development and management in Israel. Ramat Gan: Began–Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, Bar-Ilan University. http://www.biu.ac.il/Besa/waterarticle5 .html (accessed November 2, 2009). Shani, U., A. Ben-Gal, E. Tripler, and L. M. Dudley. 2007. Plant response to the soil environment : An analytical model integrating yield, water, soil type and salinity. Water Resources Research 43. Shelef, G. 2001. Wastewater treatment, reclamation and reuse in Israel, efficient use of limited water resources. Ramat Gan: BESA Center for Strategic Studies, Bar-Ilan University. Sitton, D. 2000. Development of limited water resources: Historical and technological aspects. http:// www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Facts+About+Israel/Land/FOCUS+on+Israel-+Development+ of+Limited+Water+Reso.htm?DisplayMode=print (accessed November 2, 2009). Tal, A. 2007. To make a desert bloom—the Israeli agriculture adventure and the quest for sustainability. Agricultural History 81 (2): 228–258. United Nations Development Programme. 2006. Human development report. Beyond scarcity: Power, poverty and the global water crisis. New York: Macmillan. Yermiyahu, U., A. Tal, A. Ben-Gal, A. Bar-Tal, J. Tarchitzky, and O. Lahav. 2007. Rethinking desalinated water quality and agriculture. Science 318:920–921. Zaslavsky, D. 1999. Sustainable development of water resources and the fate of agriculture. Technion Haifa, Israel: Faculty of Agricultural Engineering (in Hebrew). Water Supply for Agriculture in Israel 223 O Editors’ Summary Israeli and Palestinian agricultural practices and conditions are in many ways very different. Israel epitomizes an irrigation-driven, high-tech, high-input, highproduction system, with an increasing utilization of wastewater and greenhouses. Palestinian agriculture remains primarily rain-fed, although the percentage of protected agricultural facilities and the general willingness to utilize treated effluents is increasing. The internal discourse about agriculture in each of the parties, however, has certain similarities. The relative contribution of agriculture to both economies has generally declined over the years and, in the long run, will continue to do so. In both communities there are those who believe that the overall water scarcity mandates a steady down-sizing in agricultural production. The growing demand of the predominant urban sector is argued to be more important than maintaining production in a water-intensive agricultural sector, notwithstanding the cultural significance and heritage of farming. Expansion of “virtual water” through the increased importation of produce is considered to be inevitable. Of course, agricultural advocates on both sides are more sanguine. They see an even stronger future for agriculture, based on scientific advancement. They also cite food security and aesthetic, historic, cultural, and economic justification for maintaining and even subsidizing the agricultural sector. Neither internal Israeli nor internal Palestinian critics of present water allocations to agriculture would like to see an elimination of local farming. Most members of the general public believe that it is simply impossible to think about Palestinian or Israeli society without a robust farming sector. Yet critics argue that recycled wastewater must continue to become the predominant irrigation source. (Cattle and livestock, for example, will surely continue to require freshwater, although these quantities are trivial compared to the demands of field crops.) As in most countries in Europe and in the United States, subsidies for agriculture are widely considered legitimate, given concerns over social stability, food security, landscape, and heritage preservation. They should, however, find expression in areas other than water supply, such as general tax relief for agricultural production, subsidies on farm labor, etc. Water pricing is another issue which separates the Israeli and the Palestinian agricultural sectors. Today, Palestinian farmers who wish to purchase water for irrigation face a rate of $1.20/m3 —a rate far higher than their Israeli counterparts...

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