In our discussion, in chapter 2, of the environment of conflict, we described the political landscape in the Jordan basin. We suggested that the roots of conflict over the waters of the river system lay in the convergence of two phenomena: (1) the fact of resource scarcity in Palestine, and (2) Zionist efforts to establish a Jewish national home in Eretz Yisrael, where there lived an indigenous Arab population. We then outlined the various efforts at land and water development in the Jordan basin from the beginning of Jewish immigration to Palestine until mid-century. We noted that immediately following the 1948–49 war, both Israel and Jordan experienced massive influxes of population. The resource bases of the two newly founded states were strained considerably.

In the aftermath of the war, the concurrence of three critical factors — (1) the absolute need of both Israel and Jordan to develop land and water resources, (2) the fact of water scarcity in the basin relative to needs, and (3) adversarial relations among the riparian states — extended the scope of the Arab—Jewish conflict and crystallized what was to become a central issue in the Jordan waters dispute: on what basis should the waters of the Jordan system be shared? How much water should go to each side, and according to what principle?

In this chapter, we focus on the first, and perhaps, most important episode of riparian dispute in the Jordan basin in the post-1949 period: the United States-sponsored Johnston mission to the Middle East.