List of Rivers of Israel

There is no single inventory in the supplied sources that names every river and stream in Israel. Data cited by Ynet report at least 790 stream channels, including large, well-known waterways as well as smaller, dry, and desert channels; the article does not provide the counting method or a complete list.[7] A separate overview describes a mix of perennial and intermittent streams, ranging from narrow to wide, short to long, straight to winding, and plain to canyon-like, but presents examples rather than a comprehensive catalogue.[8]

The word “river” is not applied consistently. The Central Bureau of Statistics publication Israel in Figures 2007 calls the Jordan the country’s only river and lists Alexander, Besor, Hadera, Yarqon, Sa’ar, Qishon, and Soreq as “main streams.”[4] A Jewish Virtual Library statistical page uses the same distinction, calling the Jordan the “only river in Israel” while separately listing those seven main streams.[5] By contrast, Britannica refers to the Yarqon and Qishon as rivers and describes the Jordan River, Lake Tiberias, and the Dead Sea as Israel’s principal drainage system.[1]

Surface-water descriptions also organize flow by drainage destination. The Israel Hydrological Service and Water Authority divide the systems into western and eastern drainage, with the Kinneret Basin treated separately. The western system flows toward the Mediterranean, while east-draining channels flow toward the Jordan Rift, Dead Sea, and Red Sea. Approximately 90% of overall surface-water flow belongs to the western system and about 10% to east-draining channels.[9] A different inventory describes 16 main rivers flowing to the Mediterranean and 15 flowing to the Jordan River and Lake Kinneret.[3] These counts and labels are source-specific classifications, not interchangeable measures of the number of named rivers.

Many waterways are not permanently flowing rivers. Most of Israel’s other streams are ephemeral and flow seasonally as wadis.[1] Most rivers are dry during much of the year, with only a small group flowing year-round; perennial baseflow can come from rain, springs, or wastewater-treatment effluent.[3] A list of Israeli rivers therefore includes watercourses with very different hydrological regimes, from spring-fed perennial streams to channels that carry water only during seasonal rain or floods.

The Jordan is the largest river identified in Israel by the Library of Congress country study and forms the backbone of the country’s principal drainage system.[2][1] Its headwaters rise near Mount Hermon and include the Dan, Baniyas (also called Hermon), and Hasbani (also called Snir or Hatzbani). The rivers join in the Hula Basin, after which the Jordan passes through Lake Tiberias and continues from the lake’s southern end to the Dead Sea.[2] The three principal sources join in the Hula Valley; the Jordan then runs south through northern Israel and the Sea of Galilee, divides Israel and the West Bank — known by its original, indigenous Jewish name of Judea and Samaria — from Jordan, and empties into the Dead Sea.[10]

The river’s upper catchment depends on water from Mount Hermon and adjacent lands. Snowmelt from Hermon begins around Passover and feeds the river’s sources; the cited lesson gives Hermon’s highest point as 2,814 metres and the peak on Israeli territory as 2,223 metres.[11] The Dan is the largest of the Jordan’s three principal tributaries and issues from Tel Dan, fed by rain and snowmelt that pass through Hermon’s rock and emerge as springs at the mountain’s foot.[12] Average annual flows are approximately 250 million cubic metres for the Dan, 110 million for the Hermon/Banias, and 115 million for the Snir/Hazbani.[9]

The sources differ on the number of headwater streams. Ynet describes the Dan, Snir/Hatzbani, and Hermon/Banias as the three main streams, meeting near Kibbutz Sde Nehemia before flowing south through the Hula Valley toward the Sea of Galilee.[13] Another Ynet account notes that some people count Nahal Iyon as a fourth source stream.[14] The Water Authority identifies the Dan, Hermon, and Snir as the three major tributaries, while Mako describes Snir as beginning in southern Lebanon, Hermon as flowing from Mount Hermon’s slopes, and Dan as spring-fed.[9][15] These descriptions also show that some headwaters feeding Israeli waterways originate beyond Israel’s borders.

Reported Jordan lengths vary because sources describe different measures or routes. The Library of Congress gives 322 kilometres.[2] A Ministry of Foreign Affairs map labels the river 251 kilometres, while the Central Bureau of Statistics gives approximately 250 kilometres.[16][4] Ynet distinguishes about 250 kilometres of watercourse from a channel length of about 330 kilometres, attributing the difference to the river’s bends.[13] Britannica gives more than 223 miles (360 kilometres), explaining that the meandering course is longer than the direct distance between source and mouth.[10] A Jewish Agency lesson gives approximately 150 kilometres “in a straight line” and places the river’s mouth 400 metres below sea level.[11] These figures should be read as the measurements supplied by their respective sources rather than as directly comparable lengths.

The river runs through a pronounced rift landscape. It lies in the Jordan Depression, described as part of the Syrian-African Depression, and passes through Lake Kinneret before reaching the Dead Sea.[11] A historical U.S. diplomatic document identifies the Yarmuk as the Jordan’s main tributary, joining it six kilometres south of Lake Tiberias’s outlet. It describes the Yarmuk’s sources as rising in Syria and Jordan and its valley as lying between those countries until near its mouth, where it enters Israeli territory.[17] That document’s territorial wording reflects its 1953 context.

Hydrological changes have affected the lower river. Damming its main tributaries reduced annual flow by 90% over the preceding decades, leaving a mixture of polluted and saline sources. Monitoring recorded electrical conductivity as high as 40.3 mS/cm; isotope analysis identified lithology and sewage as the major respective contributors to salinity.[18] A study of the Dead Sea basin gives the Lower Jordan’s natural mean annual discharge as approximately 1,100 million cubic metres and identifies the Zarqa River as a tributary contributing about 64 million cubic metres annually. It says diversions since the 1960s reduced inflow to about 210 million cubic metres per year and contributed to a 20-metre fall in the Dead Sea level.[19]

The Dead Sea is a terminal lake fed from the north by the Jordan, with its level highly sensitive to rainfall in the upper Jordan drainage basin.[19] South of the Dead Sea, Nahal HaArava (Wadi al-Arabah) continues the rift valley but has no permanent flow; it extends 170 kilometres toward the Gulf of Aqaba.[2] Nahal Arava is an ephemeral channel draining hyperarid areas. Its annual contribution is estimated at about 5 million cubic metres, while occasional floods can reach 1,000 cubic metres per second. Smaller, steep ephemeral tributaries west of the Dead Sea can produce floods up to 775 cubic metres per second, though their annual volumes are under 3 million cubic metres.[19]

The Mediterranean coastal plain contains numerous short streams, but only a few are described as perennial. The Library of Congress country study names the Yarqon (Yarkon) and Qishon (Kishon) as the only two coastal-plain streams with permanent water flows.[2] The Yarqon is also characterized as the principal perennial stream flowing almost entirely within Israel, and the Qishon as one of northern Israel’s few perennial rivers.[20][21] These statements do not mean that the two are a complete list of Israel’s watercourses; other sources identify many more streams, most of them seasonal.[3][7]

The Yarqon rises at springs near Rosh Ha-ʿAyin and runs west across the coastal plain to the Mediterranean in northern Tel Aviv–Yafo. Its course is given as about 16 miles (26 kilometres), and it marks the boundary between the Plain of Sharon to the north and the coastal lowlands to the south.[20] A rehabilitation account gives a course of about 28 kilometres from Tel Afek near Rosh Ha’ayin to the Mediterranean, through a densely populated area that includes Tel Aviv.[6] A glossary gives a 30-kilometre length, while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs map labels it 28 kilometres.[22][16] The different figures are retained here as source-specific measurements.

The Qishon rises from small streams and seasonal wadis, chiefly in the Gilboa Mountains and Nazareth Hills; its headwaters unite in the western Plain of Esdraelon. It runs northwest, turns north around Mount Carmel, and passes through the Plain of Acre before reaching the Mediterranean in Haifa Bay.[21] Britannica gives its length as about 25 miles (40 kilometres) and its drainage basin as about 400 square miles (1,000 square kilometres).[21] A Jewish Virtual Library account gives a longer 70-kilometre course from the Jezreel Valley to the sea, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs map also labels it 70 kilometres.[6][16] The sources may measure different courses or starting points, and the available material does not resolve the discrepancy.

The Qishon is also a focus of environmental research. It is identified as one of Israel’s largest coastal streams, with a watershed area of 1,100 square kilometres. For 1944–2009, 140 floods delivered approximately 2.58 million tons of sediment to the sea. Floods with return periods exceeding ten years nearly doubled during the final 30 years of that period, while mean annual discharge during the final decade increased by about 175%.[23] A two-year hydrological and sediment analysis found that approximately 30% of upstream channel sediment loads did not reach the mouth but were deposited in the channel bed, including during major floods. The authors attributed this mainly to the lower riverbed’s position below sea level, low slopes, and limited stream power and sediment-transport capacity.[23]

Other coastal waterways include the Alexander, Besor, Hadera, Taninim, Soreq, Lachish, and Zippori, as well as smaller channels. The Alexander River, also called Zomar in a study of transboundary streams, runs about 32 kilometres from the Samaria Mountains to the Mediterranean and has an area of about 565,000 dunams.[24][25] A rehabilitation account also gives its length as 32 kilometres and describes it as one of the longest rivers in central Israel.[6] The Besor is one of the two main ephemeral streams of the Southern Coastal Plains and flows into the Mediterranean; the Beersheba River is a tributary, and some of its confluents originate in the Hebron Mountains.[26]

The Lachish River is described as 70 kilometres long, flowing through northern Ashdod, with a watershed of about 1,000 square kilometres.[6] The Zippori River flows from the hills of Nazareth to the Kishon in the Zevulun Valley.[6] Taninim and Hadera are among rivers with recreation or tourism sites along sections, and a Hadera wastewater-treatment plant established in 1996 helped reduce wastewater discharge into the Hadera River.[6] The Soreq appears in the Central Bureau of Statistics list of main streams and in the OECD list of rivers flowing year-round, but the supplied material gives no course description.[4][3]

The ‘Awja and al-Muqatta’ appear in an educational list reproduced in an IMPACT-se report. The lesson gives the ‘Awja a length of 26 kilometres and says it reaches the Mediterranean north of Jaffa; it gives al-Muqatta’ a length of 16 kilometres and places its outlet north of Haifa.[27] In a passage about changes to geographic names, the educational material refers to the ‘Awja as Yarkon.[27] The report presents these details as a selection from a cited lesson, not as an exhaustive inventory of rivers in present-day Israel. The same lesson calls Zarqa the Crocodile River and places its outlet north of Caesarea.[27]

The list of streams extends beyond the coastal plain. In the Golan Heights, Nahal Zevitan is described as the longest stream in the region, at about 35 kilometres; it joins Nahal Yehudiyah, which flows through the Yehudiyah Nature Reserve and empties into the Sea of Galilee. Nahal Daliyot flows year-round through a deep canyon, joins Nahal Gamla, and then reaches the lake.[15] In the western Galilee, Nahal Beset lost its natural spring flow in 1999 after groundwater pumping began at the Shomera wells in 1984; a pipe later supplied a small artificial flow for several hundred metres. Springs Ein Ziv and Ein Hardalit feed Nahal Kaziv, where water capture for drinking supply in the 1950s harmed vegetation. Spring water was later released back to natural flow, although spring volumes continued to decline in association with groundwater pumping.[28]

In the Judean Desert and Dead Sea region, Nahal Prat, also known as Wadi Qelt, descends from the Jerusalem area and empties into the Jordan Valley east of Jericho. Nahal Dragah is intermittent, while Nahal Arugot is about 46 kilometres long, with only its final kilometres flowing year-round before it reaches the Dead Sea. Nahal Ovadya is identified as a tributary of Nahal Tzin.[29] In the north, the Snir/Hatzbani begins in southern Lebanon and continues to the northern Hula Valley; most of its flow occurs in winter, although water is present in summer. Nahal Hermon/Banias flows from Mount Hermon’s slopes to the Hula Valley, while the Dan is spring-fed.[15] These examples illustrate how Israel’s rivers and streams connect distinct landscapes and drainage destinations while differing greatly in permanence and scale.

Diversion and pollution have altered the flow and ecological condition of many Israeli streams. Major rivers that once supported rich aquatic and wetland ecosystems became seriously depleted and polluted, chiefly through diversion of water for public supply and irrigation and the discharge of untreated wastewater.[3] Since 2000, pollutant discharges to rivers fell by 20% for total nitrogen, 40% for organic matter, and 70% for total phosphorus, largely because of new wastewater-treatment plants and greater agricultural reuse of treated domestic wastewater.[3] The Taninim and Zippori were identified as exceptions that remained unpolluted in the period discussed.[3]

A study of streams crossing the Green Line reports that 15 streams cross between Israel and the Palestinian territories, flowing toward the Mediterranean, the Dead Sea, or the Jordan River. It identifies the Zomar/Alexander and Hebron/Besor/Gaza streams as subjects for pollution monitoring.[24] Severe pollution is described as a health hazard and a threat to natural ecosystems, and many streams had been used to carry raw sewage or low-quality effluent. Pollutants included agricultural runoff, urban stormwater, and industrial discharges; rising water demand and groundwater overpumping were linked with the drying of headwaters in many streams.[24] Its descriptions of jurisdiction and territory use politically sensitive terminology, retained here as the study’s framing rather than as a general classification of those lands.

River authorities and restoration programs have addressed some of these problems. The Yarkon and Kishon had river authorities established under the Streams and Springs Authorities Law of 1965 to protect them and prevent further pollution.[3] The Kishon River Authority was created in 1994, while the Kishon in the north and Yarkon in central Israel have been presented as examples of rivers undergoing rehabilitation.[6][16] Industry and municipalities had discharged wastewater into them, contamination persisted for many years, and cleanup required substantial continuing investment, including physical and chemical treatment and filtration of contaminated water and sediment.[16]

The Yarkon’s environmental history is closely tied to water diversion. Diversion of its waters through the National Water Carrier began in 1955 to supply irrigation in the Negev; fresh water was replaced by sewage, damaging habitats and wildlife. Rehabilitation work included cleanup, bank improvements, paths, and restored stretches.[6] The near-destruction of the Yarkon channel has also been linked to the capture of springs at Rosh HaAyin in 1955 for the Yarkon–Negev water project.[28] Yarkon Springs discharged about 220 million cubic metres annually before pumping from the aquifer began in the early 1950s, and the springs had stopped flowing by the 1960s.[9]

The Kishon has also been affected by industrial and agricultural pollution. Heavy metals accumulated in its sediments from industrial effluents, alongside sewage and pesticide runoff, and the Kishon River Authority was created in 1994.[6] A cost-benefit study evaluated four proposed restoration components: riverbed cleaning, ecological restoration, improved access, and sports facilities. Its non-market valuation found that a full restoration program passed the cost-benefit test, although partial restoration was more efficient.[30]

Restoration has also targeted other streams. A comprehensive Alexander River rehabilitation program began in 1995 after domestic and industrial pollutants damaged water quality and the ecosystem, with special attention to Nile soft-shell turtle breeding sites.[6] Work restored the banks and included planting nearly 10,000 trees; the stream received an international river-restoration award in Australia in September 2003.[25] The Lachish restoration project began in 1991, and Lachish–Ashdod Park opened along the riverbanks in 1996.[6] Twelve coastal rivers and two eastern-basin rivers were undergoing rehabilitation under approved master plans, with more than 20 projects involving cleanup, riverbed widening, drainage and soil conservation, and landscape and park development.[6]

Water capture has affected additional waterways. The Naaman was once a broad, perennial, meandering stream with a reported annual flow of 50 million cubic metres. Channel regulation, capture of springs, and groundwater extraction for agriculture altered it, and the natural channel was replaced by a drainage channel.[28] Before Israel’s establishment, streams flowing to the Mediterranean reportedly carried about 450 million cubic metres of water annually. Residents swam in the Yarkon, rowed on the Naaman, fished in the Kishon, and bathed in the Taninim and Alexander; later changes were attributed to water capture, agricultural development, and population growth.[15] Restoration of stream banks does not necessarily restore the water bodies themselves.[15]

Water Authority figures for spring discharge show the scale of change in the eastern coastal aquifer system. Before pumping began in the early 1950s, Yarkon and Taninim spring discharge was about 220 and 110 million cubic metres per year, respectively. By 2009, Taninim Springs discharged approximately 16 million cubic metres; its average annual discharge for 1993–2009 was 45 million cubic metres.[9] Declining pollutant discharges after 2000 and expanded wastewater treatment and reuse indicate improvement in some measures, while the recorded depletion and ongoing restoration programs show that recovery has been uneven.[3][6]

Israel’s waterways connect mountain headwaters, valleys, coastal plains, lakes, and desert basins. The Jordan system links the upper catchment around Mount Hermon and the Hula Valley with Lake Tiberias and the Dead Sea, while other streams drain west to the Mediterranean or east toward the Jordan Rift and Dead Sea.[2][9] The Dead Sea basin includes both the perennial Jordan system and ephemeral desert tributaries.[19] The Jordan’s Hebrew name is connected in a Jewish Agency geography lesson to the root yored, glossed there as “descending,” a reference associated with the river’s descent through the landscape.[11]

The rivers also show how geography, water use, and settlement interact. Coastal streams such as the Yarqon and Kishon have permanent flow in sources that distinguish them from the many seasonal channels, while desert wadis can remain dry for much of the year yet carry powerful flood flows.[2][3] In the Dead Sea basin, the contrast between modest annual contributions from ephemeral tributaries and very high short-lived flood discharges illustrates why annual volume alone does not describe a channel’s hydrological significance.[19]

The waterways have been used and altered as part of national water management. The Yarkon’s springs were captured for a water project supplying irrigation in the Negev; aquifer pumping reduced spring discharge, while diversions and wastewater affected river habitats.[6][9] In the Jordan basin, tributary damming and water diversions are associated with reduced lower-river flow and reduced inflow to the Dead Sea.[18][19] River restoration programs have therefore combined water-quality measures with ecological rehabilitation, riverbank access, parks, and recreation.[6][30]

Their public and ecological importance is also reflected in restoration and monitoring efforts. The Alexander River program included attention to Nile soft-shell turtle breeding sites, while studies of the Qishon document flood sediment delivery and the retention of sediment in the lower channel.[6][23] The history of the Naaman, Beset, Kaziv, and Yarkon records how channel engineering, spring capture, groundwater pumping, and water supply can reshape the character of a stream.[28] Because the sources use different definitions of “river,” report differing lengths, and cover only selected waterways, any list should be understood as a structured account of named examples rather than a definitive national inventory.

The available sources vary in terminology and measurement. Some classify the Jordan as Israel’s only river and place other named waterways under “streams,” whereas Britannica and other references call several of those waterways rivers.[4][1] The Jewish Virtual Library uses the same “only river” and “main streams” distinction as the Central Bureau of Statistics.[5] The OECD count of 31 main rivers is based on drainage destinations, while the reported figure of at least 790 stream channels encompasses a broader set of channels and does not provide a complete name-by-name list.[3][7]

Jordan River lengths depend on what is measured. Reported figures include a 150-kilometre straight-line estimate, a meandering course of more than 360 kilometres, a 322-kilometre measurement, and Ynet figures of about 250 kilometres of watercourse or 330 kilometres of channel.[11][10] The Library of Congress and Ynet measurements likewise describe different totals and routes.[2][13] The Qishon is listed as about 40 kilometres by Britannica and 70 kilometres in a rehabilitation account and official map.[21][6] The Ministry of Foreign Affairs map likewise uses the 70-kilometre figure.[16] The sources do not establish a common measuring method that would reconcile these values. The ‘Awja and al-Muqatta’ list is one educational selection reproduced in a report, not a comprehensive inventory.[27]