Although a 1964 US State Department memorandum concluded that the Arab Diversion [of Jordan river] seemed “unlikely to cause large-scale hostilities” (US Department of State memorandum 1964), Israel declared the impending diversion as an “infringement of its sovereign rights” (Naff and Matson 1984, 44).
To a visiting US delegation, Israeli Prime Minister Levi Eshkol declared that “Israel was not trigger-happy, but if it came to it, we would have to fight for our waters” (US Department of State memorandum 1965).
Hydropolitics along the Jordan River
Scarce Water and its Impact on the Arab-Israeli Conflict
United Nations University Archive
The 1967 war was fought over water rights to the Jordan river. In 1967 Israel annexed the territories of its neighbours by war and force; Illegal under the UN charter. This makes Israel a foreign occupying power in these territories.