The Ayalon River and the Relationships between the Authorities, 1948-1965

Abstract

During the first two decades following the establishment of the State of Israel, the Tel Aviv-Jaffa municipality had to deal with flooding from the Ayalon River. By means of constructing a series of walls, the route of the river and its depth were altered in an unsuccessful attempt to solve the problem. It became clear that a more drastic solution was necessary. Water issues and rivers in particular provide a unique opportunity to study the underlying relationships between local and central governments and between local and international water experts. In this article, I compare the different interests of those who were involved in dealing with the flooding from the Ayalon and the motivations behind their actions. As part of the solution to the Ayalon flooding problem, an infrastructure company was established in 1965 as a partnership between the Tel Aviv-Jaffa municipality and the Israeli government. The main task of the company was to construct a highway along the route of the river, thus ironically providing a drastic solution to the problem.