Since 1999, Israel has secured a decoupling between the total water supplied and water derived from the natural environment through surface and groundwater. Between 2007 and 2010, this decoupling enabled a cut of over 20% in natural water use, while maintaining overall supply volumes despite drought. By 2009–2010, natural water supply had been reduced to the levels of the early 1960s. As seawater desalination contributed less than 10% to the total supply up to 2009, decoupling was achieved primarily through cross-sector efficiency and the recycling of urban effluent. This study uses the case of Israel to exemplify the challenges faced by semi-arid economies in achieving a gap between the upward trend in total national water use and local water withdrawn from natural resources. Decoupling will be shown to comprise two types. One type occurs when an economy ceases to be water self-sufficient. Another type is encountered when an economy has the capacity to remedy its over-exploitation of natural water. It will be shown that the first decoupling is non-contentious and non-politicised. The investments and reforms needed to bring about the second decoupling appear very demanding economically and very politically stressful.

In early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic revealed a faceless, non-adversarial threat that endangered Israelis and Palestinians with the same ferocity. However, the capacities of the health systems to address it were not equal, with Israel more equipped for the outbreak with infrastructure, resources, manpower and later, vaccines. The pandemic demonstrated the life-saving benefits of cooperation and the self-defeating harms brought by non-cooperation. These trends are explored here by an international team of public health and environmental scholars, including those from different sides of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. This article explores the importance of recognizing the Israeli and Palestinian jurisdictions as a single epidemiological unit, and illustrates how doing so is a pragmatic positioning that can serve self-interest. We demonstrate how despite political shocks precipitating non-cooperation, there has been a recurrent tendency towards limited cooperation. The paper concludes with lessons over the need for reframing public health as a potential bridge, the need for structural changes creating sustainable platforms for accelerated transboundary cooperation to enable the steady management of current and future public and environmental health crises regardless of dynamic political crises, and the importance of civil society and international organizations in forging collaboration in advance of governmental engagement.

Since the 1970s, many economies increasingly rely on ‘importing’ water embedded in food imports, a process referred to here as virtual-water ‘imports’. In water-scarce countries, virtual-water ‘imports’ are used to protect the economy’s own water which would otherwise be consumed in food production to meet the growing population and economy food needs, or to support the population’s food needs beyond that sustainable by internal water resources. This process is referred to here as virtual-water decoupling. This paper examines the role of virtual-water decoupling to achieve a version of food–water security for water-scarce societies, with a particular focus on Egyptian virtual-water decoupling policy during the period 1962–2013.

This book follows Tony Allan’s journey through the maze of water management and global awareness of the risks of mismanagement, tracing the trajectory of the hydraulic mission from a time of infinite possibilities—fiat panis and piped water—to risk aversion, loss of confidence and political will, and post-water societies. Part I, spanning fifteen chapters, explores Tony Allan’s formative years at SOAS, his groundbreaking work in remote sensing, and his Middle Eastern studies. It examines his influential contributions to understanding the political economy of water, the concept of virtual water, and the intricacies of transboundary water disputes. His keen insights into power dynamics shaped his perspective on regional agriculture, environmental issues, and cross-border water management. Part II investigates two decades of profound societal and economic transformation. It highlights the expanding influence of the private sector and showcases Tony Allan's transdisciplinary collaboration with diverse stakeholders, from institutions to communities. The narrative follows his strategic pivot from conventional water issues to food systems—the primary water consumer—culminating in the comprehensive Oxford Handbook of Water Food and Society. Through sixteen detailed chapters, this book examines the mixed legacy of privatization and the complex politics of the water-energy-food nexus. It tackles contentious issues of sustainability and governance, ultimately advocating the rebalancing of power dynamics within food systems and broader society. This book offers critical insights for scholars, policymakers, and practitioners in the fields of water management, agriculture, and the environment. Most of the chapters in this volume were originally published in Water International. <!----> <!----> <!----> <!---->