UNITED NATIONS: Troubled Waters

The most critical natural resource in the arid Middle East is water. Israel needs water to support a population doubled in the past five years. The Arab states need it to settle and feed 900,000 Palestine refugees. But there is not enough for both. Today, only 5% of the Middle East's land is cultivated; the rest thirsts. Meanwhile, the Jordan River, which meanders part of its course between Israel and Jordan, wastefully pours 44 billion cu.ft. of fresh water annually into the salty Dead Sea.

Last September the thirsty, aggressive Israelis struck out for water. They moved bulldozers north to the upper Jordan at Lake Hula, bordering Syria, and began constructing a nine-mile-long, parallel canal to divert part of Jordan's waters into a hydroelectric station, from there to be spilled back into the Jordan.

Syria, which opposes any project that might benefit Israel, bristled that the canal was an armistice violation; from U.N. Truce Supervisor Major General Vagn Bennike came a warning to the Israelis: "Cease working." The Israelis, who believe in fait accompli, put their bulldozers on three shifts. But when the U.S. suspended aid to Israel for its defiance of U.N., Israel capitulated and agreed to let the Security Council decide the dispute.

Last week, after three months, the Council voted. A majority agreed to let the Israelis resume work on the canal, providing that General Bennike found the project endangered no legitimate Arab interest. This was sure to madden the Syrians, and gave the Russians a chance to curry Arab favor. Russia cast its 57th Security Council veto, its first in a Middle East dispute and its first against Israel. Warned Britain's Sir Gladwyn Jebb: "This is a melancholy and sinister occasion—melancholy . . . for future international cooperation; sinister, because of its implications for the cause of peace in the Arab world."