To Make a Desert Bloom: The Israeli Agricultural Adventure and the Quest for Sustainability
Author(s): Alon Tal
Source: Agricultural History, Vol. 81, No. 2 (Spring, 2007), pp. 228-257
Published by: Agricultural History Society
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To Make a Desert Bloom: The Israeli
Adventureand the Quest
Agricultural
forSustainability
ALON TAL
Thisarticleoffersan overviewof thevicissitudes
faced byIsraeliagriculture
The
Zionist
who
came fromEurope to
the
pioneers
during past century.
Palestinesoughtto "reclaim"thestatusof Jewishfarmersin theirhomeintoan extraordinary
societalsupportforIsrael's
land. Thisethictranslated
in
and
production.Seven key
steadygrowth agricultural
agrarianeconomy
to
this
as
critical
record
are
of success,includinga
factors identified being
and technologicalinnocommitment
to food security,waterdevelopment,
vation. Yet, duringthepast twentyyears numerouschanges in local and
international
dynamicshave posed substantialchallengesto Israel's agrihas largelyhaltederoculturalsector.In addition,whileIsraeli agriculture
sion and restoreddesertified
lands of the Negev Desert,it also produced
side
environmental
myriad
effectsincludingwatercontaminationand excessivepesticideusage. The articleconsidersresponsesto thesechallenges
thatofferpromisingprospectsfora sustainableagricultural
futurein Israel.
ISRAEL'S EMERGENCE AS AN AGRICULTURALcountry was a matter of
choice. Perhaps more than any other nation,it chose to pursue a romantic,ideological agrarianvision.This dream of a rural,fertilehomeland drove economic policies, launched a sociological makeover,and
produced astonishingchanges in an ancient landscape and a people's
ALON TAL is an associate professorof EnvironmentalPolicyin the MitraniDepartment
of Desert Ecology, Blaustein Institutesfor Desert Research, Ben Gurion University,
Israel. This articlewas originallypresentedas part of the 2005 Yale UniversityAgrarian
Studies Colloquium. The authorthanksthe thoughtful
participantsfor theircomments,
whichhave meaningfully
acknowledgesthe
improvedthe text.Also, the authorgratefully
excellentsuggestionsof Moshe Schwartzand NehemiahHasid of Ben GurionUniversity.
2007
History
Society,
? theAgricultural
228
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2007
To Makea DesertBloom
has been manifestedin
self-image.This agriculturaltransformation
technologicalinnovation,surprising
triumphsin combating
breathtaking
desertification,as well as devastating environmentalconsequences.
Groundwaterbecame contaminated;mountingdependence on herbicides and pesticidestranslatedinto a significant
public health insultto
residentsof the ruralsector;and waterresourceswere depleted. It was
not long beforepeople raised questionsabout the veryeconomicviabilityof Israeli agriculture.
To answerthemand understandthe presentchoices thatIsrael faces
as it exploreswhata sustainablefutureforagriculturemeans,itis critical
to understandthe country'sidiosyncratic
heritageand the historicevolution of its remarkableagriculturalachievement.It would seem that
Israeli agricultureis in a processthatwilltake it fullcircle.One hundred
years ago, somethingakin to an "ecological impulse" galvanized an
to redefinethemselves
intellectualcadre ofyoungEuropean immigrants
as farmersin their"promisedland." Withinfiftyyears,a public policy
thatprioritizedfood securityand exportsproduced an industrialmodel
of agriculturethatcame to dominatethe local perspective.
Ultimately,thistransitionin the Israeli farmingsectorleftthe agrarian sectorat odds withthe fundamentalhydrologicalreality,ecosystem
servicesof the land,and healthconcernsof modernfarming.Duringthe
course of the twentiethcentury,a steady progressionof institutional,
physical,economic,and sociologicalfactorsconvergedto ultimatelyembrace an environmentalperspective.Rather than any ecological ideology,it was fundamentalpragmatismthateventuallycame to informthe
of agriculturalpolicyand practicesin Israel. Not onlythe
sustainability
but the political/economicdriversthat initially
environment,
physical
launched the outstandinggrowthin Israeli agriculturalproductionhave
changed.
Because it is such a small, young country,whose developmenthas
been so explosive,Israeli agriculturalhistoryoffersan extremescenario
fordrylandnationsthatseek a sustainableroutefortheirfarmingsector.
To reviewa centuryof eco-agricultural
historyin Israel mightbe akin to
watchinga fast-forwarding
documentary.The storyoffersinsightsinto
the perils of insensitivelyaggressiverural developmentalong withthe
between food propossibilityof ecological harmonyand compatibility
ductionand the environmentin conditionsof water scarcity.
229
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History
Agricultural
Spring
The Jewishpeople, of course,were originallyfarmers.As embodied
in the Bible's querulous ancestorsCain and Abel, pastoralismand agricultureprovidedtheeconomicfoundationsforan Israelitesocietythat
could also supportartisans,priests,kings,and scholars.These agriculturaloriginsare wovenintotheveryritualsof theJewishcalendar-with
religiousholidaysto thisday celebratingfirstfruits,finalharvests,and
the birthdaysof trees. The numbingand prodigiousminutiaeof the
Talmudic regulationsand insightsregardingagriculturein the Land of
Israel,writtenovertwothousandyearsago, can competeforsheerdetail
withany of the encyclopedicmanuals printedby the US Soil Conservation Service or ExtensionService.
But thisruralstatuschanged as the Jewishpeople were forcedinto
exile withthe destructionof the Temple in 70 CE. As Jewishcommunities adapted to minoritystatus in theirvarious diasporas, different
professionalinclinationsemerged: peddlers, traders,money-lenders,
physicians,and ofcourserabbis.Sometimesthesechangesof occupation
were the result of intentionalrestrictionby externalauthorities.For
example,by the Middle Ages, governmentsthroughoutEurope prohibited Jewsfromowningland. By the nineteenthcenturyboth the world
and the communityitselfhad long since ceased to perceive Jews and
farmersas synonymous-indeedthe Jewishassociationwithfood productionwas as distantas any ethnicor nationalgroupin the world.1
All this changed at the end of the nineteenthcentury,when Jews
began to thinkabout a national renaissancein Palestine througha Zionistmovement.The simpleimpulsewas to reclaimthe Jewishnational
as an indigenouspeople in theirpromisedland. Farmingwas
birthright
a criticalpart of this vision. The socialist and dominantstrainin the
Zionistpoliticalmovementused themetaphorof an "upside-downpyramid." It perceivedlabor patternsand professionalaffiliationas indicatorsforthe warpedstate of Jewishaffairs.Presumably,stable pyramids
need a wide base ofproletariattaperingto a pointofa professionalclass.
In nineteenth-century
Europe, however,the occupational breakdown
was such that a small minorityof workerswas supportingfarbroader,
less productivesectionsof the pyramid.This createdan invertedJewish
numbersof whitesociologicalpyramid,dominatedby disproportionate
aimed to flip
The
Zionist
transformation
and
scholars.
collars,traders,
thisdynamicon its head and returnJewishsocietyto a normalhealthy
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To Makea DesertBloom
pyramid,witha majorityoffarmersat itsbase. This socialistimpulsewas
strengthenedby the enormouspower of Tolstoy'sruralistaffectionfor
"Mother Russia" and the greatauthor'sidealizationof peasant culture.
These ideas resonatedamongJewsof his time,who soughtto applyhis
vision of agrarianharmonyin theirancestralhomeland.
Aaron David Gordon was notjust an influentialZionistphilosopher
whose writingarticulatedthis impulse, he also personifiedit. After
workingas a bookkeeperin Russia, he movedto Palestinein 1902 at age
and redefinedhimselfas a farmerat thefirstZionistkibbutz,
forty-seven
on
the banks of the Sea of Galilee. He perceivedagricultural
Degania,
labor as not only restoringan abandoned land, but also a damaged
Jewishspirit.In his 1918 essay, Our Tasks Ahead, he wrote:
We Jewshave developed an attitudeof lookingdown on physical
labor.... But laboris theonlyforcewhichbindsmanto thesoil ... it
is thebasicenergyforthecreationofnationalculture.Thisis whatwe
do not have, but we are not aware of missingit.... In mydreamI
come to the land. And it is barrenand desolate and givenover to
destruction
darkensits face and foreigners
rule in corrupstrangers;
tion.And theland of myforefathers
is distantand foreignto me and
I too am distantand foreignto it.And theonlylinkthattiesmysoul
to her,theonlyreminderthatI am herson and she is mymother,is
thatmysoul is as desolateas hers.2
The back-to-the-earth
ethos adopted by the Zionists can be easily
understoodand is hardlyremarkablein the generalcontextof the era's
Romanticphilosophythatsoughta pureralternativeto the increasingly
industrial,alienating,European, urban lifestyles.What is less comprehensibleand more impressivein retrospectwas the phenomenalsuccess
of thiscomparativelysmall cohortof Jewishagriculturalpioneers who
actually implementedthis philosophicalformula.With practicallyno
training,theymoved halfwayaround the world,became farmers,and
lived up to theirown axiom of "conquer[ing]the wilderness."
It was hardlya hospitableland forthewould-beplanters.Palestineat
the turnof the twentiethcenturybore the scars of successivewaves of
conquests and occupations that had more regard for the militarytriumphthanfortheassociatedchallengesofsoil stewardship.Millenniaof
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Agricultural
History
Spring
overgrazing,primitivesubsistencefarmingpractices,and deforestation
had denuded a countrywhose modest precipitationleaves it almost
classification.Aerial photographsfromthe
entirelyin a semi-arid/arid
confirm
the
period
resultingerosion,land degradation,and generalneglect.Even withoutthisdegradation,the average organiccomponentof
soils in Israel is only 1.5 percent-literallyhalf the 3 percentfoundin
Europe.3
Mark Twain's famoustravellog fromthe nineteenthcenturyin InnocentsAbroad offersprobably as good a snapshot as any, with his
descriptionof the Judeanhillsa farcryfromthe lush landscape evoked
by the Bible:
Close to it was a stream,and on its banks a greathead of curious
lookingSyriangoatsand sheepweregratefully
eatinggravel.I do not
statethisas a petrified
fact-I onlysupposetheywereeatinggravel,
else forthemto eat....
because theredid not appearto be anything
Therewas hardlya treeor a shrubanywhere.Even theoliveand the
cactus,thosefastfriendsof a worthlesssoil,had almostdesertedthe
No landscapeexiststhatis moretiresometo theeyethanthat
country.
whichboundsthe approachesto Jerusalem.4
Yet, the Jewishagriculturaleffortof the earlytwentiethcenturyconfounded many non-Zionist,Jewishskepticsand proved the potential
fecundityof the land of Israel. The Zionist movementwas adept at
fundraisingand much of these fundswere earmarkedfor agriculture.
Though the real estate that Arab landlordswere willingto sell was
largelymalaria-infested
swampsand wastelands,new agriculturalsettlements soon began to dot the map of Palestine. Britishland decrees
limitingJewishownershipslowed progressdramatically,but this 1940
table fromthe PalestineStatistical
Abstractindicatesthe steadyincrease
in Jewishagriculturalactivity(see Table 1). Most of the agricultural
activityin the Jewishsector was situatedon privatelands in Palestine
before1948,but withindependence,the collectivekibbutzand moshav
agriculturesettlementsbecame the dominantinstitutionalframework
forfarmingin Israel.
While the Jewishfarmssupportedlivestockand a varietyof vegthe crop of choice forthe settlerswas citrus.Between
etables and fruits,
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To Makea DesertBloom
Table 1. Growth of JewishAgriculturalSettlements
Year
1899
1914
1930
1936
1939
#ofJewish
Settlements
22
44
107
203
252
Inhabitants
5,000
12,000
45,000
98,300
137,000
Land Area
300,000
400,000
1,050,000
1,480,000
1,650,000
SOURCE:PalestineStatisticalAbstract.
1918 and 1938 Jews invested seventy-fivemillion dollars in orange
groves,and productiongrew seven-fold.Orange groves generated80
percentof Palestine's exportrevenuesand were the singlegreatestincome generator,even thoughtheyonly filled4 percentof Palestine's
eightmillionhectaresof agriculturallands.5
The success was ostensiblydue to anotherconscious choice by the
Zionist farmers:they eschewed the existingagriculturalmethods and
technologiesof the local Palestinianpeasant population-the fellahin.
Theirs was to be modern,westernagriculture.This dismissiveattitude
towardsthe indigenousArab populationcan be seen even in Gordon's
characterizationof the land under Arab controlas "barren and desolate." And Gordon was among the conciliatoryZionist leaders toward
the PalestinianArabs. The Zionist adage "A land withouta people for
a people withoutland" did not so much suggestthatthe Arab population was invisiblebut that theirnational claims and culturewere less
worthy.Years later,Israel's foundingfirstPrime Minister,David Ben
Gurion,a geniusat languageswho knewat least twelve,refusedto learn
Arabic on the premise that Israel could only succeed as a European
nation and thatlearningfromthe locals would be a strategicmistake.6
The truthis thatby the startof the twentiethcentury,the traditional
Arab agriculturein Palestine was extremelymeager for a varietyof
reasons. Operatingin an essentiallyfeudalcontext,withabsentee landownersin Syriaand Turkishtax collectorsskimmingaway any possible
profits,incentives(and yields) forfellahinfarmerswere extremelylow,
even by Middle Eastern standards.Agriculturaltractsgrewsmallerand
smalleras familiessubdividedshrinkingland reserves.Productionwas
meager.A 1937 study,forexample,showeda local PalestinianArab cow
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AgriculturalHistory
Spring
412 to 824kilograms
ofmilka year(lactation)as opposedto
providing
a cow fromBeirut,Lebanon,whocouldgenerate2,000to 3,000kg or
fromDamascus,Syria,whocouldreach3,500kg.(Forpurposesofcomwereproviding
an averageof
parison,in2003Israelicowson kibbutzim
ratein theworld.)7
8,529kg a year,thehighest
WhiletheBritishMandategovernment
modestassistance
attempted
subsidized
olivetreesandtechto theArabagricultural
system,
through
thananything
else.
weremoresymbolic
nicalassistance,
theseefforts
of infrastructure,
a largely
Withno capitalto supportanyupgrading
illiteratefarming
populationwithoutextensionsupportand withthe
ambitious
andincreasingly
ofan extremely
relentless
proscompetition
began to
perousJewishsector,indigenousPalestinianArab farming
colonialperiod,some64 percentoflocal
fade.By theendoftheBritish
livedofftheland,butan increasingly
Arabstheoretically
largepercentor
were
work
the
found
within
Jewish
economy
simplydestitute.8
age
Thus,formanyreasons,Zionismspawnedhighinput,technologically
landreclamation
a keyto thesuccessful
Forinstance,
basedagriculture.
fertilizers.
Fertilizer
was synthetic
jumped
imports
by Jewishfarmers
from1,077tonsin 1922to a peak of 14,698in 1937.Years laterthe
ingroundwater
inruralwells,
nitrates
reappearedinhighconcentrations
WarII
in
zealous
Jewish
farmers
was
no
the
butthere
pre-World
way
hazard.9
thissortofhydrological
Palestinecouldhaveenvisioned
initiative
was
TechnicalsupportfortheJewishagrariansettlement
stations
weresetup
researchandextension
quicktofollow.Agricultural
the
World
Zionist
the
during 1920s,largelybased on
Organization
by
who
the philosophyof Yizhak Volcani,the Lithuanianagronomist
centralagrithecountry's
movedto Palestinein 1908and established
whichnowbearshisname.Volcani'sviewheldthatthe
culturalcenter,
ecomethodsin Palestinewereunsustainable
traditional
agricultural
Eumixed
with
intense
and
he
advocated
irrigation,
farming
nomically,
and diverseproduce.1'
ropeanplows(latertractors),
wasa heavily
ofJewish
the
agriculture
paradigm
Although prevailing
it was largelypesticidefreeand soil consermechanized
monoculture,
of
vationwasan integral
Thus,itmanagedtomaintain
part theprogram.
a world
WalterClayLowdermilk,
environmental
considerable
integrity.
was sentbytheUSDA just beforeWorldWar II
renownedsoil scientist,
the
stateof soils in the ancientLevant.His report
to conducta surveyof
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To Makea DesertBloom
fromEgypt,Tunisia,Algeria,and Morocco was bleak indeed. "Almost
everywherewe saw repugnantevidences of deadly soil erosion superseding the resultsof skilled land use duringprevious centuries."His
assessmentof the ecological impactsof theindigenousFelah agriculture
was similarlygrim.
Here beforeour eyes the remarkablered-earthsoil of Palestinewas
beingrippedfromthe slopes and sweptdownintothe coastal plain
and carriedout to sea, whereit turnedtheblue oftheMediterranean
to a dirtybrownas faras theeyecouldsee. We couldwellunderstand
how duringmanycenturiesthistypeof erosionhas wastedthe neglectedlands.It is estimatedthatoverthreefeetofsoil has been swept
fromtheuplandsof Palestinesincethebreakdownof terraceagriculture.
In contrast,he saw the soil conservationeffortsof the Zionist farmers, who at the time controlledonly 6 percentof the lands, as sensational:
We were astonishedto findabout threehundredcolonies defying
greathardshipsand applyingthe principlesof co-operationand soil
conservation
to theold Land of Israel.... Here in one cornerof the
vastNear East, thoroughgoing
workis in progressto rebuildtheferof
land
instead
of
itbyneglectto further
destruction
tility
condemning
and decay.... The countryis emergingfroma backwardlow-yield
agricultural
economy,dependentchieflyon grainsand olives,and is
directedand richlydiversievolvingtowardsa modern,scientifically
fiedeconomywithfruits,
vegetables,poultryand dairyproductsplayan
ever
role.
The
woodenplow is yieldingto the tractor,
ing
greater
theflailto thethreshing
machine.RuralPalestineis becomingless and
less like Trans-Jordan,
Syriaand Iraq, and morelike Denmark,Holland and partsof theUnitedStates.'
Once Israel was establishedin 1948 and the Zionistsettlementagencies werefreedoftheconstraintsofBritishland and waterproscriptions,
the new JewishState set out to expand agriculturalproduction.In five
yearsduringthe 1950s,cultivatedlands increasedby 150 percent-with
the percentageincrease of irrigatedplots even higher.Soon after,the
235
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AgriculturalHistory
2000
1800
1600
1400
1200
1000
800
200
0
1950
190
1970
1980
o1990
2000
*- CROPS-m-LESTOCK
Source:Ayal
IndexofAgricultural
Production,
Crops,and Livestock.
Figure1. Quantity
and Policy,"
Markets
"TheRiseand FallofIsraeli
Kimhi,
paper
Agriculture:
Technology,
at SungKyunKwanUniversity,
2004.
presented
Israeli governmentamended itsNational Planningand BuildingLaw so
that the defaultzoning for open spaces was for "agriculturalusage."
of farmlandsrequiredapprovalof a commitChangingthe classification
tee dominatedby agriculturalinterests.During thisperiod,agricultural
settlementactuallydoubled, withthe numberof Jewishfarmingcommunitiesincreasingfromthreehundredto six hundred.Areas thathad
been writtenoffformillenniaas desertreemergedas arable lands,as the
ideologicalfervorthatcharacterizedthepioneerspiritwas givena stateDurthatboth deifiedand subsidizedagriculture.
supportedframework
the
over
of
came
from
the
30
1960s,
agricultural
ing
percent exports
sector.Figure 1 showsthe continuousexpansionof agriculturalproduction in Israel since the foundingof the state.12
The steadygrowthin yieldshas continuedto the present,even as the
breakingof new agriculturalland has leveled off.Today, Israeli farmers
produce over 3.3 billiondollarsworthof produce,20 percentof whichis
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2007
To Makea DesertBloom
Table 2. Land Use in Israel
Thousands
of
Hectares
Land
Totalarea ofIsrael
BuiltAreas
Non-Agricultural
Open Spaces
NaturalReservesandForests
Pasture
ArableLands
SOURCE:
2,245,000
200,000
1,146,000
347,000
141,000
411,000
Percentage
of TotalLands
100
8.9
51
15.5
6.3
18.3
Ministryof Agriculture,2001.
exported.Table 2 indicatesthat roughlya quarterof land in Israel is
being utilizedforagriculturalproduction,and thisrate is fairlysteady.
This proportionis extremelyhighconsideringthatmost of the country
is arid or semi-aridin its precipitationlevels.13
Table 3 providesa genAs to the compositionof Israeli agriculture,
eral breakdownof presentproductionaccordingto land use. As would
be expected given the climaticconditions,the majorityof agricultural
lands are irrigated.Roughlya quarterof agricultural
lands are dedicated
to orchards,with citrusstill comprisinga major componentof local
fruits,even as the groveshave migratedsouth to the northernNegev.
Flowers and ornamentalplants,intensivelyraised in greenhouses,provide revenuesfargreaterthantheir1.6 percentof land space. In general,
some 1,456 hectaresof land are utilizedas greenor "hot" houses.
In contrastwiththe success of Jewsand Jewishagriculturein Israel,
the 150,000 Arabs who remained in Israel afterthe War of Independence fairedpoorly.Most PalestinianArabs fledthe countryduringthe
fightingfor a varietyof reasons. The new Jewishgovernmentwas not
interestedin rebuildingthe fellahincommunitiesthat had frequently
been hostile.In manycases, Arab farmerswere not allowed to returnto
theirhomes. Under the 1950 Absentee PropertyAct theywere paid
compensationthatfellfarshortof the land's actual value.
About 40 percentof privateArab land resourceswere confiscated
duringthisperiod,and today Arabs-who are 20 percentof the population-own only3.4 percentoftheland.This shiftin landownershipwas
certainlynot an objectiveof the youngJewishState duringits military
conflictwithfiveArab armies and the local PalestinianArab militias,
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AgriculturalHistory
Table 3. Uses of AgriculturalLand in Israel
Typeof Cropland
Thousands
ofHectares
All Cropland
382.2
Irrigated
Rainwatered
Orchards
Citrus
Vegetables
Flowers and Plants
Field Crops
Cotton
Wheat
SOURCE:
% of TotalLands
100
192.3
136.9
84.8
58.6
41.4
25.8
25.3
55.1
5.2
183
7.7
16.8
1.6
55.8
29
86
8.8
26.2
ofAgriculture,
2001.
Ministry
but it was an undeniableoutcome.Withthe loss of mostof itslands,the
alreadybeleagueredfellaheconomywentintofreefall.Already,itcould
not reallycompetewiththe highlymechanizedJewishagriculturalsector. By the 1990s only8 percentof Arab-Israelismade a livingin agriculture.HistoriansBaruch Kimmerlingand Joel Migdal summarizethe
process:
to
Even wheretheyheldontotheirplots,theArabsfoundit difficult
The stateseverelylimitedtheirwaterand electricity
stayin farming.
whencomparedto themoreproductive
neighborquotas,particularly
Jewish
communal
and cooperative farms (kibbutzim and
ing
excludedfromthecounmoshavim).And theArabsfoundthemselves
credit,and purchasing
try'spowerfulmarketing,
cooperatives.Arabownedcitrusgrovesall butdisappeared;inthe1950s,thefellaheenfell
withsupplemental
ofolive
back on subsistence
marketing
production,
oil. It is thusnot surprising
thatmanyIsraeliArabs abandonedagria processof
culturealtogether... in Zureik'sterms,theyunderwent
withthe
became
the
domain
of
those
The
land
depeasantification.
in
machineryto exploit.By the 1960s and 1970s,Arab agriculture
mechanizationand cash cropping,
Israel would undergosignificant
fromfellahto farmer.14
Israeliresearchorganizations
speakingofa shift
Despite the problemsof thisethnicgroup,agriculturalproductionat
the national level grew exponentially.When broken down to its con238
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2007
To Makea DesertBloom
stituentparts,the phenomenalsuccess of Israeli agricultureduringthe
to
yearscan be attributedto seven factors:commitment
past fifty-seven
waterdevelopment;innovativetechnologifood security;extraordinary
increase
in availableworkforce;a unityofpurpose
cal development;
steady
in Israel's agriculturalsettlementmovements;unconditionalpolitical/
of exportmarkets.
economicsupport;and the growingavailability
Yet, in the more recentpast, manyof the veryfactorsthatcreated
such agriculturalprosperityhave changed-from agriculture'sperspective-not for the better.Indeed, thereis a wide perceptionamong Israelisthatagriculturein Israel has lostitsluster,comparativeadvantage,
its future.While agricultureprovided30 percent
and mostimportantly,
national
of the
GNP duringthe 1950s, today's 3.2 billion dollars in
annual productionis only1.6 percentof GDP. The trendsin each of the
seven key factorsraise serious questionsabout the sustainabilityof Israel's presentagriculturaleconomy.15
Israel's initialyearswere characterizedby chronicshortagesof food.
As the nascentState of Israel was absorbinghundredsof thousandsof
refugeesfromArab lands,it faced a boycottfromitsMuslimneighbors.
Domestic food productionwas inadequate, and proteinsin particular
werein shortsupply.Strictrationingofbasic food suppliesbythecentral
government
spawneda black marketfora varietyof staples.This period
of collectivehardship,knownlocally as the Tsenah,leftan imprinton
the nationalpsyche.16
The residual effectof this trauma was a national commitmentto
agriculturalself-reliancethathas survivedforfifty
years.As agricultural
researcherElaine Solowey recalls:
On KibbutzMatsuvaduringthefifties,
thechoicefora proteincourse
duringa meal was betweenten olives and one egg. This memory
drivesthefeelingthatIsrael needs itsown milk,eggs,etc. Rationing
likeScarletO'Hara, declaredthey
was verystrictandmanykibbutzim,
werenevergoingto be hungry
againand startedup an amazingvariety
of projectsfromraisingguineafowlto growingmushrooms.
Today, however,Israeli supermarketsoffera cornucopia of domestic
and importedproductsthat is as plentifulas any in the world. This
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bountyhas led manyIsraelisto growmoreconfidentabout thecountry's
its tenuous internalong-termabilityto importfood, notwithstanding
tional staturein muchof the world.17
The need forirrigationhas been as historically
importantin Israel as
the desire for food self-sufficiency.
In anythingbeyond a subsistence
in
semi-arid
and
arid climatescannotrelyon raineconomy,agriculture
fall as its water source. The impressiveachievementsin agricultural
productionreached priorto Israel's independencewere made possible
due to a coordinatedwaterdevelopmentprogramin the Jewishsector.
This was coordinatedby Mekorot, a public companythat essentially
became the national water utilitywhen the state was created. Israel's
foundingpoliticalsocialistleaders, almost all of whom came fromthe
agriculturalsector,perceivedwater as the engine that would fuel the
incipientnation's ruraleconomic development.The initialestimatefor
establishinga nationalwatercarrierat the startof the 1950swas fifteen
milliondollarsa yearforthe firsteightyearsof theproject.Considering
thatIsrael's entireforeigncurrencyearningsduringthisperiod did not
exceed twentymilliondollars,the decision to push ahead withthe infrastructure
project constitutedan astonishingcommitmentto Israel's
agriculturalcommunities.(During Israel's firstdecade, some 80 percent
of investmentin waterinfrastructure
wentintonationalwatercarriers.)
FifteenyearsaftertheWar of Independenceended,thecountryhad put
in place a massivesystemforredistributing
the naturallyasymmetrical
hydrologicalallocation.18
Despite the protestationof its Arab neighbors,Israel's National Water Carrierto thisday takes waterfromthe relativelyrainyGalilee and
the KinneretLake (Sea of Galilee) in the North and carriesit down
througha gridto irrigatesemi-aridplotsin thecenterof thecountryand
the southernNegev Desert. Then, as duringmost of Israel's history,
water was highlysubsidized.It was hydrologicalsocialism,and the results did not disappoint.Withstate incentivesto open new spigots,for
Israel's firstthirtyyears,agriculturalproductioncould burgeon.
environmental
ramifications
to this
Of course,therewere significant
of the
water
The
saline
waters
relatively
aggressive
exploitationpolicy.
Kinneretexacerbatedgroundwatercontaminationwhenused forirrigation, salinatingthe soil. As early as the 1950s water resourceshad alreadybegun to deterioratedue to overpumpingof the country'slargest
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To Makea DesertBloom
aquifer to support new agriculturalsettlementsalong the coast. The
resultswere quicklymanifestedin seawaterintrusionand increasedsalinitylevels. By the 1950swellswere closed. A decade later,when Israel
foundyetanothernew source forirrigation,
recyclinga substantialpercentage of its sewage, an additional stream of contaminationwas
added.19
The Israeli experiencewithwastewaterrecyclingis unique and instructive.Israel was thefirstcountryon earthto make effluentrecycling
a centralcomponentof itswatermanagementstrategy,
settingstandards
forreuse and designinga nationalblueprint.When the stateframedthe
originalmasterplan in 1956, it originallyenvisionedthe ultimaterecyclingof 150 millioncubic meters-all goingto agriculture.Today almost
threetimesthatlevel is recycled-a total of over 60 percentof sewage,
generallyconsideredthe highestpercentageof any nationin the world.
By the beginningof the twenty-first
century,effluentscontributed
roughlya fifthof Israel's watersupply,and 50 percentof the irrigation
supplied foragriculture.20
Concern,however,about the quality of water reused for irrigation
has emerged,givenitspoor pretreatment,
inadequate oversight,and the
leniencyof the standards.Epidemiologicalstudiesduringthe 1970s established that there were no discernibleoccupational health effects
But it took another
among Israeli farmerswho irrigatedwitheffluents.
decade forthe fullhydrologicalimpactof massivewastewaterrecycling
to be assessed, and even longerforthe countryto set sufficiently
strintreatment
standards
to
ensure
and
stream
gent
groundwater
integrity.
Thus, while Israeli agriculturalwater policy and irrigationresourcefulness facilitatedincreased productionand expanded water resources,
therewas an indisputableecological downside.This legacyincludeshigh
nitrateconcentrationsin aquifers,periodic bacterialepisodes in urban
drinkingwatersources,a steadyincreasein the levels of salt in aquifers,
and even contaminationby industrialsolventsin ruralregions,making
dozens of wells unfiteven foragriculturalutilization.21
Other aspects of Israeli high-techagriculturehave come withboth
benefitsand costs. When a popular daily newspapersurveyedIsraelis,
looking back afterfiftyyears of statehood about the country'scontributionto the world'stechnology,theyvoted dripirrigationas the country'smost importantinvention.It even came ahead of the legendary
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Agricultural
Spring
epi-ladyhair removalsystemand ICQ software.Developed by the kibbutz-based NetafimCorporation,drip irrigationhas created a worldwide revolutionin farmingforwater-scarceregions.Other farmersin
more humidregionshave come to understandthe benefitsof bringing
water,in precise quantities,with optimal fertilizerconcentrations,directlyto the root zones of plants,and theyhave embracedthe technoland theNorthernCalifornia
ogy;forexample,theFloridacitrusindustry
hazards
of
fromwastewaterirrigation
Health
drift
marijuana growers.
are also preventedby thissystem,and bacteriaare neutralizedon route.
Computersrun the entireoperation.22
In Israel dripirrigation
became ubiquitous,withoverhalfof irrigated
It is theprimaryreason
lands in Israel todayundersuchmicro-irrigation.
from
64 to 90 percentsince
has
increased
water
why
deliveryefficiency
the 1960s-with the amountof waterper hectaredropping50 percentfrom8,700 to 5,500 (cubic meters per year)-as yields continuedto
skyrocket.23
The technologywas not withoutits problems,such as pipe clogging
and breakage. Recently,a new generationof subsurfacedripirrigation
systemshas emergedto address them,providingeven higherlevels of
nutrientsand water to plants while maintaininga drysoil surface.By
buryingthe drippersseven to thirtycentimetersbelow the surface,
weeds were reduced,as were runoffand evaporation-eliminatingalmost completelyhumancontactwithpoor qualityeffluents.
Moreover,
the longevityof the laterals and emittersin the systemwere greatly
enhanced. Here was an environmentalproblemthat trulyhad a technological fixthatsaved moneyand time.24
There are other,more vexing,aspects of Israeli high-inputagriculture. Pesticide usage remainswidespreadand, when chemicalsare replaced withcleverbiologicalsubstitutesdeveloped in Israel,application
oftenrequireseven greatersophisticationand training.In arid regions,
where the lands are sandy with low organic content,soils essentially
serve as what JaredDiamond refersto as "flowerpots," withfarmers
throughcostlyorganicand inorganicfertilizers.25
providingthenutrients
In short,Israeli agriculturehas grownmore technologicallysophisticated. This has been key to the successiveincreasein yield,but it also
meant that it has become more expensive to be a successfulIsraeli
farmer.The upfrontinput costs money and the demands of human
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To Makea DesertBloom
capital and associated expertiserequired to successfullycompete has
also increased.This serves to make the entireagriculturalsectormore
balance sheetmay be mixed,but on the
vulnerable.The environmental
of
Israel's
embrace
whole,
technologicalinnovationhas meant more
efficient
waterand fertilizer
utilizationand, recently,a drop in pesticide
an
but
at
increasingfinancialcost.
consumption,
Over the halfcenturyof its existence,Israel's populationhas grown
and, to a lesser extent,a reladramaticallydue to massiveimmigration
tivelyhighbirthrate.When the dust settledafterthe War of Independence, the countryhad hardlya millioncitizens.Today thereare seven
million.This clearlycreatedan employmentchallenge.Duringthe 1950s
agricultureprovidedjobs for hundredsof thousandsof immigrantsas
well as indirectemploymentin related services.Agriculturaljobs paid
reasonablywell and were part of the pioneeringfervorthat accompanied the creationof a Third JewishCommonwealth.But theirappeal
began to decline by the late 1970s and 1980s.26
The lesseningattractiveness
of agriculturalemploymentwas due to a
varietyof reasons. Technologyand mechanizationsupplantedmanylabor-intensive
practices,whichdecreased thenumberof agricultural
jobs
available. As the societybecame more affluent,agriculturalwages for
laborerswere relativelymeager. At the same time,landownersthemselves began to lose interestin agriculture.To keep up meant massive
investmentof income in the latest tractorsand technologies.Agriculturaloperations,whosejustification
had initiallybeen largelyideological
or political,foundthattheycould not make ends meet. The numberof
familyfarmsdramaticallydecreased, with scores of small operations
inflationof the 1980s inflatedto
defaultingon loans thatthe triple-digit
levels. Many farmerssimplysought alternativeemployextraordinary
ment. Agriculture,as a livelihood,was increasinglyperceived as less
prestigiousand was empiricallyless lucrativethan other professions.
Governmentrecordsshow thatbetween 1981 and 1995 the numberof
farmsin Israel plummetedfrom43,450 to 25,900.27
By 1999, aftermanyfarmershad relinquishedtheirland, 70 percent
of theeightythousandpeople who workedin farming(3.3 percentofthe
labor force)were hiredlaborers.In manyareas,foreignThai farmworkers vastlyoutnumberthe host landowners.These migrantsjoined Israel's workforcewhen theirpredecessors,Palestinianday laborers,were
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Spring
140
120
-
100
z\
80
60
40
20
195
0
1980
1970
-
1980
TOTAL
1990
2000
---- SELFEMPLOYED
inAgriculture;
and Total.Source:Ayal
Self-Employed
Figure2. ThousandsofWorkers
"TheRiseand FallofIsraeli
Markets
and Policy,"
Kimhi,
paper
Agriculture:
Technology,
at SungKyunKwanUniversity,
2004.
presented
perceivedas a securitythreator simplygrewunreliabledue to mounting
politicaltensionsand violence. In short,by most estimatestoday,only
some 20 percentof Israelislivingin ruralareas actuallyworkas farmers.
This employmentprofiledid not help thetroublingpathologyof doublein Israel thatresultedfromthe intifadahand assodigitunemployment
ciated politicalturbulenceafter2000.28
Figure2 showsthesteadydeclinein thenumberof Israeli agricultural
workers.The graphactuallyunderstatesthephenomenonas it relatesto
the total numberof workers.Inasmuch as Israel's population has increased six-foldover the past fifty-seven
years,the drop in thepercentin
of
the
workforce
age
engaged agricultureis farmore dramatic.
Along with fewerfarmersin Israel, there has also been a loss of
ideological unityin the agriculturalcollectives.Israel is the home to a
varietyof different
ways of lifein its ruralsector,mostnotablykibbut244
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2007
To Makea DesertBloom
zim-collective intentionalcommunities-and Moshavim-rural villages witha modest cooperativebase. From theirinception,the memsoldiers"
bers of thesecommunitieswerehighlymotivatedas "front-line
in manyof Israel's national challenges:immigrantabsorption,creation
of geopoliticalfactson dangerousborders,and ofcourseimprovingfood
security.29
But today,Israel's rural sociologyis a verydifferent
mosaic. Many
kibbutzimhave partedwayswiththeMarxistutopianaspirationsoftheir
founders. Members receive differentiatedsalaries, and the level of
shared commitmenthas givenway to a preferenceforprivacyand the
profitmotive.They have become quaint,but capitalist,rural villages.
Many moshavimhave turnedinto littlesuburbs,withfieldscovered in
to join the general labor force.Even
condos, and memberspreferring
themanykibbutzimwho have chosento retaintheircollectivistethosdo
not automaticallyembracenationalchallengeswiththealacritythatthey
once did. The less than charitablemarketconditionsand the material
aspirationsof theirmembersmake themmore circumspect.30
Additionaleconomicforcesare at work,changingIsraeli agriculture.
There is no denyingthatthe generalagronomictrendis in the direction
of economiesof scale. To be competitive,
farmshave had to growbigger.
A major initiativeby the Ministryof Agricultureduringthe 1990sboth
upgraded the environmentalregulationsfor dairies and encouraged
The governmentprovidedgrantsworth
mergersto improveefficiency.
over a billiondollars to ease the transition,
but the modernizedresults
out
of
dozens
small-scale
essentiallysqueezed
familymilkingoperations.
Once a 1.2 hectare greenhousewas consideredenormous,and now 4
hectaresis the standard.31
In thissense, Israel is not disconnectedfromthe world dynamicsof
agriculture,which in most countriesappear to be more conducive to
largerthan smalleroperations.One could argue thatthereis a greater
justificationto subsidizesmall producers,as theyoftenget more yields
on the average withless waste and are oftenperceived as havingthe
potentialto produce less environmentaldisruptionthan biggeroperations.Yet notjust capital investment,
but regulatoryred tape and price
supportsoftenfavortheagribusinessman over thefamilyfarmer.Figure
3 confirmsthe magnitudeof this transitionin Israel withsmall family
farmsin the moshav villagesgivingway to largeragribusinesses.32
245
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Spring
Agricultural
History
45
upto30
30to60
M 1971
60toI0
sizecategory
1981
50o 250
250andover
0 1995
Source:
Figure3. Size Distribution
(indunams)ofActiveFarmsamongIsraeliMoshavim.
"TheRiseand FallofIsraeliAgriculture:
Markets
and Policy,"
AyalKimhi,
Technology,
at SungKyunKwanUniversity,
2004.
paperpresented
are at the heartof agribusProfits,ratherthanideologyand lifestyle,
iness decisions.It is likelythatthe increasedeconomies of scale will be
good forthe food and fiberindustry.The increasein the size of Israeli
farmsprobably bodes well for the environmentas well; as empirical
studieshave demonstratedlargefarmshave been shownto have greater
resources and ability to adopt environmentallyfriendlypractices.
Whetherthistrendis healthyforthe social fabricof ruralIsraeli society,
is anothermatterentirely.33
Political change has furtherhamperedIsraeli agriculture.There has
always been an agriculturallobby in Israel whose influencewas far
greaterthanits actual numbersof the population.Its strengthhas never
restedon its diminishing
electoralpower,but ratheron the deeply embedded pro-ruralimpulsethatresides in decision-makersregardlessof
theirpoliticalaffiliation.Israelis identifywiththe verdantlandscape of
thecountrysideand see somethingwholesomein itspreservation.Moreover, in a nation still under attack by some Arab nations who have
successfullyinitiatedboycottsagainstIsrael in the past, food securityis
not just a slogan but a real concern.34
246
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2007
To Makea DesertBloom
From the firstday of independence,thispoliticalsupportwas translated into money. The governmentsubsidized water. It offeredprice
supportsfor many basic crops and for soil conservationactivitiesand
provideddisasterrelief.It made available a highlyprofessionalarmyof
extensionagents and it generouslyfundedresearch.For example, on
average, the Ministryof Agriculturein Israel currentlyinvestssome
seventymilliondollars a year in agriculturalresearch;by way of comparison,theMinistryof Environment'sannual researchbudgetaverages
less than two milliondollars.35
The past fewdecades, however,have seen a softeningof thissupport.
Waterpricesforfarmershave graduallyincreasedand, ifpresenttrends
continue,there will soon be no differencebetween the domesticand
agriculturalwater cost. The status of the once-vaultedkibbutzimhas
sufferedfrommany decades of rule by right-wing
partieswho harbor
fewnostalgicsentimentstowardstheepicenterof theirpoliticalnemesis.
Indeed, since the Likud Partywas elected intopower in 1977,the sector
has been denied the preferentialeconomic treatmentit enjoyed during
the country'sfirstthirtyyears. Additionally,it has had to deal with a
disinformation
campaign,frequentlysupportedby politicianswho were
happyto caricaturizetheentirefarmsectoras freeloadingparasites.The
JewishAgency,a Zionist developmentagencyfundedby Jewishdonors
fromaroundtheworld,bankrolledhundredsof settlementsforalmosta
century,only to phase out its institutionalsupportfor agricultureand
new agriculturalsettlementsduringthe 1990s.36
Where previous policies made it practicallyimpossibleto sell agricultural lands, new flexible policies have allowed many farmersto
changethezoningof theirlands-or simplyillegallyrentthemto sundry
commercialventures-producingpowerfulincentivesto cease farming.
As a result,Israel's agriculturists
are sometimesbranded as land speculators,with enough examples of abuse to providejustificationfor Supreme Court interventionto stymiethe dynamic.In short,Israel's agriculturalcommunityfindsitselfon its own as never before.37
Israel's export of agriculturalproductshas also declined in recent
years,furtherendangeringthe agrariancommunity.By 1960, although
itspopulationhad doubled twicein twelveyearsof statehood,Israel was
in food production.And the yieldscontinuedto
already self-sufficient
grow. Export marketsprovided a continuouslysteep demand curve,
247
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AgriculturalHistory
50
35-
25
2055
0L
30-
Is-
tupo30
30to-0
60to150
5to 250
1,
,d0-n oer
2:5
size iategory
M 1971
U1981
01995
Source:
(indunams)ofActiveFarmsamongIsraeliMoshavim.
Figure3. Size Distribution
"TheRiseand FallofIsraeliAgriculture:
Markets
and Policy,"
AyalKimhi,
Technology,
at SungKyunKwanUniversity,
2004.
paperpresented
are at the heartof agribusProfits,ratherthanideologyand lifestyle,
iness decisions.It is likelythatthe increasedeconomies of scale will be
good forthe food and fiberindustry.The increasein the size of Israeli
farmsprobably bodes well for the environmentas well; as empirical
studieshave demonstratedlargefarmshave been shownto have greater
resources and ability to adopt environmentallyfriendlypractices.
Whetherthistrendis healthyforthe social fabricof ruralIsraeli society,
is anothermatterentirely.33
Political change has furtherhamperedIsraeli agriculture.There has
always been an agriculturallobby in Israel whose influencewas far
greaterthanits actual numbersof thepopulation.Its strengthhas never
restedon its diminishing
electoralpower,but ratheron the deeply embedded pro-ruralimpulsethatresides in decision-makersregardlessof
theirpoliticalaffiliation.Israelis identifywiththe verdantlandscape of
the countrysideand see somethingwholesomein itspreservation.Moreover, in a nation still under attack by some Arab nations who have
successfullyinitiatedboycottsagainstIsrael in the past,food securityis
not just a slogan but a real concern.34
246
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To Makea DesertBloom
2007
160
t i
120 -
1950
1960
196-197
97
0)
899
980-
'1990W0
Products-Israel
andtheWorld.Source:AyalKimhi,
Figure4. PriceIndexofAgricultural
"TheRiseand Fallof IsraeliAgriculture:
Markets
and Policy,"
paperpreTechnology,
2004.
sentedat SungKyunKwanUniversity,
nomic and environmentaldemands. Historicaldevelopmentsand progressionappear to pointclearlyto a futuredirectionforIsraeli agriculture.
movementconsideredfarmers
For manyyearsIsrael's environmental
and agriculturalpolicy as constituting"ecological enemies." Farmers'
profligateuse of water and the Israel Water Commissioners proagricultureallocationprioritiesleftmanynaturereserveshighand dry.
Pesticidesleftdrinkingwater and a range of freshproduce unhealthy.
Fertilizersspawned eutrophicationin surfacewaters,and the resulting
nitrateconcentrationsled to the closing of dozens of drinkingwater
wells. Streamsstunkwiththe excrementof dischargedlivestockwastes.
wintercultivationcreateda solidThe plasticsassociatedwithhigh-input
were
waste disaster.When they
mixedinto the bonfiresthatfrequently
disposed of crop residues,it createda seriousair pollutionhazard. Most
of these environmentalcomplaintswere well founded.40
startedto prioritizetheirenvironYet, as Israel's environmentalists
mental challenges,the country'sdwindlingopen spaces topped every249
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Agricultural
History
Spring
one's list.The irreversiblenatureof sprawl,the retreatin the astonishand the loss of a landscape thathad forso
inglyrichlocal biodiversity,
long inspiredpilgrimsand prophets-all these led to a sense of crisis.
Objective analysisled to the conclusionthatpast successfulgovernment
protectionof Israel's landscape had been founded in agrarianpolicy.
But, as the protectionof farmlandweakened, so environmentaldegradation and decimationof open spaces followed.Suddenly,farmersdid
not look so bad afterall. Even froman aestheticpointofview,therewas
a new sense of appreciation.To be sure,naturereserveshave an enormous power and appeal. Yet, some 25 percentof Israel's land is already
set aside forbiodiversity
preservationand hiking.It was the farmlands
that were threatenedwithextinction.Israelis realized how much they
had come to appreciatethisverdantheartof theirlocal landscape.42
When Hebrew UniversityeconomistsAliza Fleischer and Yaakov
Tsur took a look at how the agriculturallandscape affectedthe travel
decisions of Israeli tourists,they found that there was an enormous
"willingnessto pay" fortravelto and througha cultivatedcountryside.
The resultsof theirresearch suggestthat the economic return(crop
land is only16 percentofitsactualvalue,giventhe
sales) on agricultural
Israeli penchantfor ruralvistas.The rose-coloredtintedvision of bucolic Israeli landscapes largelyignoresethnicdivisions.Both Arab and
Jewishagriculturallands are viewed with the same sentimentaland
perhaps wistfulfondness.43
What we have here in shortis an "externality."
Externalitiestypically
connote a negativeresultfroman economicactivitythatis thruston an
unsuspectingand unenthusiasticpublic. But externalitiescan also be
positive. In this case, Israel's beleaguered farmingcommunityis producinga landscape,valued at millionsof dollars,forpublic enjoyment.
Yet it receives no returnon the product,because it is essentiallya
byproductof agriculturethatjust happens to benefitthe public.In this
context,subsidiesmake sense economically.Moreover,as manyEuropean nations have stressed,agriculturallands serve as real estate reserves,preservingoptionsforfuturegenerations.
In conjunctionwitha growingnational appreciationof the agrarian
landscape, Israel's agriculturalcommunityhad taken a greenerpath.
Spurred to a large extent by European pesticide residue standards,
chemical usage began to drop duringthe 1990s. The Ministryof Agri250
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2007
To Makea DesertBloom
cultureactivelypromotedIntegratedPest Management,usinga variety
of pheromones,naturalpredators,and biological materialsto control
unwanted bugs and weeds. The waste treatmentsystemsinstalled in
many Israeli feedlotsand dairies more than equaled the sewage plants
installedto treat human residuals. Some kibbutzimeven managed to
recycletheirplasticsand make mulchout of theirorganicloadings.44
Despite this, Israeli agriculturestill has its ecological critics.In a
paper publishedby the local chapterof World Watch Israel, Ami Ettingersubjects Israeli agricultureto a strictecological critique.As the
introductionsummarizes:
In Ettinger'seyes,Israeliagriculture,
similarto thatof theworld's,is
not sustainable,and contributes
to thegrowingenvironsignificantly
mentalcrisison ourplanet.Ettinger'spointofdepartureis theurgent
and unavoidableneed to changedirectionin orderto stop the deteriorationin ecologicalsystemson whichhumansare dependentfor
existence.Ettingerstrongly
criticizesmodernagriculture
as ignoring
thisdependencyon naturalsystemsand thusdamagingthem.In so
doingit damagesitself.In hisview,theoriginoftheproblemis in the
modernuni-directional
agricultural
perspectiveinsteadof a cyclical
one. Ratherthan usinga cycle of plantings,modernagriculture
is
based on monocultures.
Ratherthanconserving
thefertility
ofthesoil
fromyearto year,thereis a perpetualneed to fertilize.
Ratherthan
thatencouragesolvingpest problems
usingeco-agricultural
systems,
natural
modern
uses chemicalsexcesenemies,
through
agriculture
sivelyuntiltheywipe out entireecologicalsystemsalong withthe
naturalenemiesof the pests.45
These high ecological standardsshould be set in the contextof an
increasinglytough world market.Israel has been experimentingwith
organicagriculturesince 1943 and since 1982 is home to a moderately
active Union of Organic Growers.But organicproduce has not caught
on. Despite several effortsto be competitive,Israeli organicproducts
are stillconsiderablymore expensiveor, alternatively,
less productive.
For example,the highlysuccessfuldate orchardat Kibbutz Samar converted to become organic duringthe 1990s and findsits yields to be
roughlytwo-thirdsof its neighboringsettlements,which actually use
extremelymodestchemicals.46
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Spring
Israel's populationhas grown,and it is unlikelythatthe countrywill
The organicideal has an imporever returnto fullfood self-sufficiency.
tantplace in any agriculturalcommunityand should be a constantpresence as a source of inspirationand an object of aspiration.Withcurrent
practicesconsistentlymovingin an ecologicallysensitivedirection,it
seems unfair,however,to brand conventionalagricultureas downright
unsustainable.Enforcingexistingpesticide residue standardsand the
Israel Water Law's prohibitionon causingany formof pollutioncould
incentiveto continuethe trendof reducedrelianceon
providesufficient
chemicals.And more effectivepublic education about the healthbenefits of chemical-freeproduce mightboost consumer demand sufficientlyto make organicalternativescompetitive.
Along withtheproblemofpollutionremainstheissue ofwater.Some
water expertsargue that the way to solve the region's water scarcity
problemis by phasingout agriculture.They favor"virtualwater"-the
cropsover continuedcultivation.Yet, even
importingof water-intensive
of
virtual
water
agree thatIsrael willalwaysneed to produce
proponents
its own eggs and milk.The present85 percentlocal food productionis
an impressiveachievement,especiallywhen consideringthe enormous
quantitiesproduced forexport.This accomplishmenthas even greater
meaning given the land and climaticconditionsin which much food
productiontakes place. While Israel should seek to avoid the exportof
water-intensive
crops,it makes perfectsense to continueproductionof
locally consumedproductsthat can stillsuccessfullycompete withthe
subsidizedinternationalproduce.47
Water limitationsare also the focus of Israeli innovationsin develstrainsof fruitsand vegetables.Creoping salt- and drought-resistant
ative and patientcombinationsof germplasmhave producednew crops
withthe potentialto eliminatefaminein drylands.Here Israeli agricultureis makinga commendablecontribution
internationally.
Perhaps,in
an ideal world,the greaterland reservesavailable in neighboringArab
countriescould providemuch of the food and fiberconsumedlocally.
But, at present,thisappears even more of a dream than a prosperous
organicagriculturalsector.48
With the veryfutureof the agriculturalsectorwaveringin the balance, it is timethatIsraeli societymakes an activeagrarianchoice once
again. It needs to reaffirmits historicobligationand tryto meet the
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To Makea DesertBloom
biblical standardof turningthe land into one of "Milk and Honey," by
make an enduringcommitmentto its ruralsector.Presentsubsidiesof
Israeli water are trivialcompared to the past and far below those of
otherwesternnations.However, fora varietyof produce and flowers,
water,perhaps,will no longerconstitutea constrainingfactor,as government-funded
researchuncoversnew waysofproducingusable water.
in membranetechnologieshave reducedthepriceat
New breakthroughs
Israel's new generationofdesalinationplantsto fifty-five
centsper cubic
meter.Many crops are economicallyviable at thisrate-and desalination prices are likelyto drop even furtherover time.A recentgovernment decision, upgradingwastewatertreatmentstandards is another
criticalstep. While it will cost the countryover two hundredmillion
dollarsover the nexttenyears,it also means thatfarmerswillbe able to
use municipaleffluents
withoutcompromising
the fertility
of the soil or
of the underlyinggroundwaterin the future.49
the integrity
All the same, public policyneeds to be rationaland strategic.Scarce
resourcesshould not be subsidized,creatingincentivesforwastefulness,
when alternativetargetsfor support exist for which there is a clear
surplus.In the presentcontext,surelywater,a scarce resource,should
not be subsidized when the same supportcould be funneledthrough
other, more abundant, factors of production-such as unemployed
workers.There is a compellingnationalinterestto ensure thatagriculture continues to provide landscape and ideological returnsto local
citizens.The riskof abandoningagricultureincludesspawningdesertificationin the southernsemi-aridregions.It is importantfornational
self-esteemfor Israelis to know that,to a large extent,they do feed
themselves.It is also sends a significantmessage to many developing
countries,who forsome fifty
yearshave looked at Israel to confirmthe
of
a
prospects
highlyproductiveagriculturaleconomyin conditionsof
intensewaterscarcity.
Because a globalizedeconomywillcontinueto put pressureon Israeli
farmers,theywill have to continueto be as cleveras ever in developing
crops and cultivationmethodsthatcan make theirdrylandsbloom with
as littlewaste of naturalresources,residuals,and cash outlaysas possible. If the past hundredyearsis anyindication,the core of agricultural
communitiesand individualfarmerswho have survivedthe vicissitudes
of Israel's checkeredagriculturalhistoryare up to the task.
253
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AgriculturalHistory
Spring
NOTES
1. Richard Gottheil and Theodore Reinach, "The Diaspora," JewishEncyclopedia,
(accessed Dec. 4, 2006).
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com
2. Aaron David Gordon,People and Labor (in Hebrew) (Jerusalem:Zionist Library,
1942), 234.
in Israel-Greening theDesertor Greeningthe
3. Ami Ettinger,SustainableAgriculture
Environment?(in Hebrew) (Tel Aviv: Babel Publishers,2003), 10-11.
4. Mark Twain, The InnocentsAbroad (1869; repr.,New York: Oxford University
Press, 1996), 481, 555.
5. Baruch Kimmerlingand Joel Migdal, Palestinians:The Making of a People (New
York: Free Press,1993), 27, 329; Adolph Reifenberg,The Soils of Palestine:Studiesin Soil
2nd ed. (London: T. Murby,1947),
Formationand Land Utilizationin theMediterranean,
162-63.
6. ProfessorZe'ev Tzachor,Director,Sappir College, in discussionwithauthor,Dec. 5,
2006.
7. Aaron Boneh, Land of Israel and itsEconomics (in Hebrew) (Tel Aviv: Dvir Publishers,1938), 81; "Israeli Dairy Survey2003," (in Hebrew) Israeli CattleBreedersAssociation, http://www.icba.org.il/mazagot-month/seker-refet-hachalav-30-11.pps
(accessed
Dec. 3, 2006). The conversionunitto weightfora literof milkis typicallyset at 1.032 kg.
In the presentinstance,the originalstudypresentedthe data as fourhundredto eight
hundredliters.
8. Reifenberg,The Soils of Palestine,157.
9. Ibid., 164.
10. Efraimand MenahemTalmi,ZionistLexicon (Tel Aviv: Ma'ariv, 1982),21; Moshe
Schwartz,Senior Lecturer,Ben Gurion Universityof the Negev, in discussionwiththe
author,Aug. 4, 2005.
11. WilliamClay Lowdermilk,Palestine:Land ofPromise(New York: Harper & Bros.,
1944), 3, 5, 6, 102.
12. The Planningand BuildingLaw, 1965, (In Hebrew) SeferHaChokim, 1965, 307;
Eran Feitelson,"Protectionof Open Spaces in Israel at a TurningPoint," Horizons in
Geography42-43 (1995): 9-13. See, generally,Eran Feitelson,"Social Norms,Rationales
and Policies: ReframingFarmlandProtectionin Israel,"Journalof Rural Studies15 (Oct.
1999): 431-46. See, in particular,the 1968 amendmentsto the law and the creationof the
AgriculturalLands PreservationCommittee;Ayal Kimhi,"The Rise and Fall of Israeli
Agriculture:Technology,Markets and Policy," paper presented at Sung Kyun Kwan
2004,in possessionof author;JohnFedler,Focus on Israel: Israel's Agriculture
University,
in the21s"Century(Jerusalem:Ministryof ForeignAffairs,2002), reprintedon the Ministryof Foreign Affairswebsite, http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/facts%20about%20israel/
(aceconomy/focus%20on%20israel-%20israel-s%20agriculture%20in%20the%2021st
cessed Dec. 3, 2006).
13. Fedler, Focus on Israel.
14. Alon Tal, Pollution in a Promised Land: An EnvironmentalHistoryof Israel
(Berkeley:Universityof CaliforniaPress,2002), 330; Magad el Haj, "The Arab Village in
and Reuse of Wastesin Rural
Israel, General Lines," in Solutionsfor Disposal: Treatment
Areas of Israel: SymposiumProceedings,ed. Khatam K'naneh (Rama: Galilee Society,
1988), 8; Kimmerlingand Migdal, Palestinians:The Making of a People, 161.
254
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2007
To Makea DesertBloom
15. Feitelson,"Social Norms,Rationales and Policies," 437; Fedler, Focus on Israel.
16. Tom Segev, 1949: The FirstIsraelis (New York: Free Press, 1986), 297-323.
17. Elaine Solowey, AgriculturalResearcher,in discussionwiththe author,July25,
2005.
18. Itzhak Galnoor, "Water Policy Making in Israel," in WaterQualityManagement
Under Conditionsof Scarcity:Israel as a Case Study,ed. Hillel Shuval (New York: AcademicPress,1980), 293; Howard M. Sachar,A HistoryofIsrael (New York: Knopf,1976),
519; Simcha Blass, Waterin Strifeand Action (Givataim:Masada, 1973), 237-48.
19. Hillel Shuval, "The Development of Health Guidelines forWastewaterReclamation," WaterScience and Technology24:7 (1991): 149-55.
20. Hillel Shuval, "Quality ManagementAspects of WastewaterReuse in Israel," in
WaterQualityManagementUnderConditionsof Scarcity,214; Alberto M. Wachs, "The
Outlook forWastewaterUtilizationin Israel,"in Developmentsin WaterQualityResearch,
ed. Hillel Shuval (Ann Arbor:Ann ArborScience Publishers,1971), 109-11;Tal, Pollution
in a Promised Land, 220; Ministryof the Environment,"Wastewater Treatmentand
Bulletin23 (Autumn2000): 8; National Academy of Science,
Reuse," Israel Environment
Use of ReclaimedWaterand Sludge in Food Crop Production(Washington,DC: National
Academies Press, 1996).
21. M. Juanicoand E. Friedler,"WastewaterReuse forRiver Recoveryin Semi-Arid
Israel," WaterScienceand Technology40:4-5 (1999): 43-50; Badri Fattal and Hillel Shuval,
"HistoricalProspectiveEpidemiologicalStudyof WastewaterUtilizationin Kibbutzimin
Israel,1974-1977,"in Developmentsin Arid Zone Ecology and EnvironmentalQuality,ed.
Hillel Shuval (Philadelphia:Balaban, 1999), 333-43; Yoram Avnimelech,"Irrigationwith
Sewage Effluents:The Israeli Experience," EnvironmentalScience and Technology
27(July1993): 1279; Israel Ministryof EnvironmentalProtection,"MinisterialCommittee
UnanimouslyVotes to Adopt the Recommendationsof the Inbar Commission,"(in Hebrew) http://www.sviva.gov.il/Environment
(accessed Apr. 15, 2005); Phoenix Lawhon,
"The Politicsof WastewaterStandardsin Israel" (master'sthesis,Ben Gurion University
of the Negev, 2006).
22. Alon Tal et al., Sustainable WaterManagementin the Drylands: Recent Israeli
Experience(Jerusalem:Israel Ministryof ForeignAffairs,2005), 4-6.
23. Shoshana Gabbay, The Environment
in Israel (Jerusalem:MinistryofEnvironment,
et
Tal
Sustainable
Water
90;
al.,
2002),
Managementin theDrylands,2.
24. Alon Tal et al., "SubsurfaceDrip Irrigationin GravelFilled Cavities,"Vadose Zone
Journal3 (Nov. 2004): 1407-13.
25. Jared Diamond, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed (New York:
VikingPress,2005), 381.
26. EmploymentfiguresregardingIsraeli agriculturecan be foundin Eran Feitelson,
"Social Norms,Rationales and Policies," 437.
27. Moshe Schwartz,UnlimitedGuarantees:History,PoliticalEconomy and theCrisis
of CooperativeAgriculturein Israel (in Hebrew) (Beer Sheva: Ben Gurion Universityof
theNegev Press,1995); Yoav Kislev,"ExperiencewithCollectiveActionand Cooperation
in Agriculturein Israel," in AgriculturalCooperativesin Transition,ed. Csaba Csaki and
Yoav Kislev (Boulder: WestviewPress, 1993), 269-90.
28. Arieh Sheshkinand Arie Regev, Israel Agriculture,
Facts and Figures(Jerusalem:
255
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AgriculturalHistory
Spring
in
Israel Ministryof Agriculture,2001), 3; Chaim Oron, past ministerof environment,
discussionwiththe author,July24, 2005.
29. See, generally,Michael Shalev,Labour and thePoliticalEconomyin Israel (Oxford:
Oxford UniversityPress, 1992) as well as EfraimOrni and Elisha Efrat,"Rural Settlement,"in Geographyof Israel (Jerusalem:Israel UniversitiesPress, 1971), 296-302.
30. JoshuaMuravchik,Heaven on Earth:The Rise and Fall ofSocialism(San Francisco:
Encounter,2002), 321-45.
Vered Ha'Galil, Feb. 10,
31. Shalom Simhon,past ministerof agriculture,
presentation,
2005; Oron, discussion,2005.
32. See, forexample,the viewsof agriculturalvisionaryand poet, Wendell Berry,The
of America (Berkeley: Universityof CaliforniaPress, 1996); Solowey,discusUnsettling
sion, 2005.
33. Alon Tal, (Rosenthal), "State AgriculturalPollutionRegulation,A Quantitative
and Technology2:8 (1990): 50-58.
Assessment,"WaterEnvironment
34. Tal, Pollutionin a PromisedLand, 200.
35. Israel Ministryof Agricultureand Rural Development,www.moag.gov.il
(accessed
Dec. 4, 2006).
36. David Ginsburg,past deputydirectorof the JewishAgency forruraland urban
development,in discussionwithauthor,Dec. 3, 2006.
37. In an action broughtby a coalitionof social and environmental
groups,in August
2002 Israel's SupremeCourtruledto cancel a decisionby the Israel Lands Administration
(decision numbers727 and 737), which would have allowed for the changingof land
to non-agricultural
uses. For a descriptionin Englishof the
designationsfromagricultural
case and related efforts,see the website of the Eastern Rainbow organization,http://
(accessed Dec. 3, 2006).
www.ha-keshet.org.il/english/land_struggles.htm
38. Kimhi,"The Rise and Fall of Israeli Agriculture."
39. Schwartz,UnlimitedGuarantees,33. During thisperiod Swiss subsidiesto farmers
were as highas 80 percentof the productprice!
40. Abraham Mercado, "The Coastal Aquifer in Israel: Some Quality Aspects of
GroundwaterManagement,"WaterQuality ManagementUnder Conditionsof Scarcity,
Israel as a Case Study,99.
41. Israel State Comptroller,Report on Managementof the WaterSystemin Israel
(Jerusalem:Israel GovernmentPress, 1990); Alon Tal, "EnforceableStandardsto Abate
AgriculturalPollution:The Potentialof RegulatoryPolicies in the Israeli Context,"Tel
Aviv University
Studies in Law 14 (1998): 223-49; Mercado, "The Coastal Aquifer in
Israel," 99.
and De42. Ephraim Shlain and Eran Feitelson, The Formation,Institutionalization
cline of FarmlandProtectionPolicies in Israel (Jerusalem:FloersheimerInstitute,1996),
10-11.
43. Aliza Fleischer and Alia Yaakov Tsur, "Measuring the Recreational Value of
AgriculturalLandscape," European Review of AgriculturalEconomics 27 (Sept. 2000):
394.
initiativesin Israel's
44. For an exhaustivedescriptionoftheplethoraof environmental
and
Environment-Preservation
The
Shlomo
sector,
see,
Agricultural
Kapuah,
agricultural
256
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2007
To Makea DesertBloom
SustainableDevelopment(Jerusalem:Israel Ministryof Environment,Agro-EcologyDepartment,2000).
45. Eilon Schwartz,"Introduction,"in SustainableAgriculturein Israel, 6.
46. Agricultural
Encyclopedia(in Hebrew) (Jerusalem:Keter,1986),s.v. "Field Crops."
47. RudolfOrthoferet al., "OptionsFor a More SustainableWaterManagementIn the
Lower JordanValley," paper givenat the Water For Life Conference,Anatalya,Turkey,
Oct. 2004. "Israel's Need for Desert AgriculturalInnovation,"The Negev Foundation,
(accessed Dec. 4, 2006).
http://www.negev.org/About/need.htm
48. USAID/MERC, "Desert Agriculture:The Introductionof New Crops to Arid and
Saline Zones," Arava Institutefor EnvironmentalStudies, http://www.desertagriculture
(accessed Dec. 4, 2006).
.org/sustain.html
49. The Israeli cabinet decided in 2002 to build a series of new desalinationplants
beginningwitha hundredmillioncubic metera year facilityin Ashkelon. (Government
decision #1682). See, Gustavo Kroneneberg,"The Largest SWRO Plant in the World:
Ashkelon 100 million min/y BOT project," Desalination 166 (Aug. 15, 2004): 457-63;
"UpgradingEffluentsforUnlimitedIrrigationand forStreamDischarge,"Decision ofthe
MinisterialCommitteeforEnvironmentalQuality and Hazardous Substances,(Apr. 17,
2005).
257
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