There is no evidence of such thievery, but in the Middle East perception is sometimes more important than fact. The Litani is Lebanon's Nile. National identity is attached to this water, said Hussein Amery, a Lebanese geographer and water expert from the Colorado School of Mines. Israel faces just as thorny and open-ended water issues on all of its borders, but those with the Palestinians are particularly acute. Water is the most important issue, Nabil El-Sherif, head of the Palestinian Water Authority and Yasser Arafat's lead water negotiator, said in an interview.
Water means life.
It is a very easy equation. I cannot make a bath with Coca Cola. I cannot irrigate with Coca Cola. The Israeli can live without Tel Aviv, but he cannot live without water. And the same principle applies for the Palestinians.