Page 36 - Social Science.docx

Principles of social science
into one of Milk and Honey.”17 Hydro-Geologist and Professor Emeritus at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel, Arie Isaar, concurs in acknowledging Israel’s merits, when he reviews the contemporary literature on regional water problems in the Middle East, and gives a survey of the engineering and scientific innovative techniques that Israel has developed continually throughout the years to confront the scarcity of water in the land.18 Indeed he affirms that “the result of this process of innovation in areas related to agriculture is that the yield per cubic meter of water in Israel is the highest in the world.”19 Israelis have come a long way since their early beginnings. In fact, they have gone beyond helping their own country and have even discovered new ways to help the world in these dire times, with high food production, genetically improved crops, and effective water usage. This has greatly helped in the world's food crisis, and many of these Israeli companies are trying to share their acquired knowledge worldwide. Israel has learned to maximize its water efficiency, farm, and produce much more food than needed for its own population, with much less water. The most impressive aspect about this feat is that they have been able to achieve this in less than a century, which is quite a short period of time to prosper, and thrive. They have even been able to achieve this under constant threats, and wars from neighboring Arab countries. Israel’s irrigation and agriculture techniques and technology have revolutionized and reinvented the industry on a worldwide scale, helping change landscapes, and
17 Tal, "Rethinking the sustainability of Israel's Irrigation Practices in the Drylands,” p. 252.
18 Arie Issar, "Conflicts and Covenants in the Middle East: A Review of the Contemporary
Literature on Regional Water Problems," Israel Studies (Bloomington, USA: Indiana University Press, 1996), p. 6. 19 Ibid., p. 6.
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