Talk:List of rivers of Israel

What to do with streams not in Israel, but part of same hydrographic basin(s)?

Streams entirely on the West Bank are not part of the list. We should consider if this makes complete sense in hydrography, more than in any other aspect of physical geography, as water moves. (Really?! Well, yes...) Maybe we can redefine the page, or mark which stream is in part or fully on West Bank, in Gaza, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Egypt. Arminden (talk) 04:46, 23 February 2021 (UTC)

Who wants to write a List of West Bank rivers page? (One to include Gaza would add very few additional wadis.) It's needed to complete the picture.

Those shared with Lebanon and Syria would come next, but they can wait, Jordan would only add tributaries to common water bodies (Yarmuk, Jordan, Dead Sea, Arava), but no split courses, and Egypt - just some wadis between Sinai and Negev.

But I guess they all will have to wait :)) Arminden (talk) 13:55, 22 March 2024 (UTC)

3 yrs later: silence.

Also missing is a List of rivers in the Golan Heights. Since nobody is interested, I started placing them here FOR NOW, at least those flowing into the Sea of Galilee. Either a new list is created, or we rename the page, Hydrological basins of the Jordan River-Dead Sea-Aravah valleys for all I care, with redirects from more sensible names like the current one plus similar ones concerning LEB, SYR, JOR, PAL. Water knows no borders when left alone. And people (includes students, tourists, researchers) look things up, politics aside (or be damned). Arminden (talk) 15:56, 2 April 2024 (UTC)

Supreme Deliciousness, hi. My invitation (see above) is still open.

However, the topic of this article as it is now is exactly List of rivers of Israel, period. ALL rivers listed here flow AT LEAST ALSO THROUGH ISRAEL, none flows exclusively through the Golan Heights, Lebanon, the West Bank or the Gaza Strip.

Apart from that, you cannot simply hijack an article and rename it without even bothering to open a discussion first. That goes against all practice. The topic and content are extremely well thought through, discussed and gradually processed. Please try not to start an useless conflict here. Thank you! Arminden (talk) 18:59, 25 August 2025 (UTC)

Not true, many streams in the GH flow into the Sea of Galilee without entering Israel. For example, the "Gamla stream" and "Kanaf stream". --Supreme Deliciousness (talk) 15:45, 26 August 2025 (UTC)

There you are wrong.

1. The entire E shore of the lake belongs, by UN decision, to Israel. There is thus, mathematically, no way how those streams can circumvent Israeli territory.

2. For the sake of rational debate only: Should you find one that does, you must remove that stream from the list, and by no means change the topic of the article by changing the title. That's basic logic even in day-to-day life, let alone in academic or encyclopaedic work. If you find a stone in your bread dough, you remove the stone, you don't bake it in and call the result "loaf of bread & stone".

But again: the entire lake + 10 m of northeastern shore belong to Israel (and much more of the southeastern shore). Check the sources, by which I don't mean Hafez al-Assad. Cheers, Arminden (talk) 07:33, 27 August 2025 (UTC)

The eastern shores of Sea of Galilee was not part of Israel after 1948, it was a dmz until 1967, show evidence that the "The entire E shore of the lake belongs, by UN decision, to Israel." --Supreme Deliciousness (talk) 18:27, 27 August 2025 (UTC)

Sorry, mo more time for this game. Please do your research using neutral sources - on Anglo-French colonial agreements, the Mandate of Palestine, and the 1947 UN Partition Plan for Palestine. If territory conquered in war is legally owned by the victor, then the Golan is Israeli. If int'l decisions count, then the NE shore (a strip reaching 10 m from the water) and quite a bit more of the SE shore is Israeli. The DMZ is the result of war, not of int'l decisions. Cheers, Arminden (talk) 23:57, 27 August 2025 (UTC)

Didn't Israel conquer land in 1948 that was supposed to go to a Palestinian state? The same way Israel conquered that land. the eastern shores were conquered by Syria, I'm not saying it is part of Syria, but it was disputed, and so still is today as Syria has never recognized any Israeli claims.--Supreme Deliciousness (talk) 17:39, 29 August 2025 (UTC)

Sorry, there is indeed one theoretical exception: streams which flow into larger ones before reaching Israel. Those don't belong here, sure. For hydrological reasons and user-friendliness, I would still add them in brackets next to the larger ones, for instance like this:

• Stream A (tributaries B and C flow strictly in the Golan outside Israel).

Arminden (talk) 09:32, 27 August 2025 (UTC)

Supreme Deliciousness, thanks for pointing out those two streams. I don't know how much one can trust Google Maps on every detail of every wadi (many bear no name and I found one ending abruptly just 50 m from the lake). Anyhow, according to Google Maps, Nahal Kanaf (Kanaf Stream) ends S of (and close to) Kinar Beach and N of Duga Beach => it does reach the lake inside Israel.

Gamla and Bazelet however do not, Bazelet flows into Gamla and Gamla flows into Daliyot, so those two do not belong on the list: I've removed them from the list and now they're only mentioned next to Daliyot as tributaries who don't cross into Israel.

If you would write an article on the List of rivers of the Golan Heights, we could link there and be even more user-friendly. You already have an article on the List of rivers of Syria, with a section called " Flowing into endorheic basins" and a subsection on those flowing into the Dead Sea via the Jordan River: voila! List all the Golan wadis there, in the proper order (tributaries one asterisk further in than the rivers or lakes they're flowing into), and we'll have all the information in one spot. Finding out the Arabic names will expand our knowledge, as most current maps only show the Hebrew names. It would be a big gain, very constructive, and I wish you success! Arminden (talk) 17:30, 27 August 2025 (UTC)

I had forgotten about it, but I had added in 2 April 2024 the following intro to "From the Golan to the Sea of Galilee":

"The Golan Heights, by international law, are part of Syria. Much of the region has been annexed by Israel, a move only recognised by the United States. Some of the Golan Heights streams cross into internationally recognised Israeli territory, while some don't. For the sake of a comprehensive hydrological overview, the Golan tributaries of the Jordan River via the lake are tentatively listed here for now."

Once you write that list of Golan wadis, this can be removed and a wikilink added. Until then, it's still useful for the user to find the info somewhere. Please kindly mind to also add the Hebrew names to the Golan list, as I've done for Israel when I've researched for and added the Arabic names. It corresponds to at least 2 important criteria: user-friendliness, and encyclopedic comprehensiveness. Thank you. Arminden (talk) 17:46, 27 August 2025 (UTC)

​To make sure you don't misunderstand me: I mean what I wrote in April 2024, "Also missing is a List of rivers in the Golan Heights". There's a job for you!

Second, many rivers flow through more than one country; that's normal. This list here only contains rivers which flow at least in part through undisputed Israeli territory.

Others have understood it: pro-Palestine editors (many rivers come from the West Bank, flow through Israel, and a few end in the Gaza Strip), other Syrian editors and Jordanian editors too (the Yarmouk River flows through all 3 countries), as well as Lebanese editors (several Jordan River tributaries come from Lebanon). You're the only exception, so please think it through. Thanks. Arminden (talk) 19:11, 25 August 2025 (UTC)

From other languages

Loew Galitz, hi. Great edits. While you're at it: I just noticed that Czech Wiki has a few streams I don't think are included yet here. Maybe you could add them, too? Step by step :) Cheers, Arminden (talk) 02:58, 18 August 2022 (UTC)

• <sigh> I don't have patience to work systematically. I will try to do something. Loew Galitz (talk) 03:17, 18 August 2022 (UTC)

Why/when use nahal in name?

Needs a duscussion. Is there a need to use Nahal X rather than X Stream in ENGLISH Wikipedia? Maybe only where the term is alteady widely used and popular, and maybe if/where the wadi/nahal character as in: seasonal stream in semiarid & arid regions is very typical and pronounced. I'm not greatly in favour.

Second consideration: nahal & wadi mean both stream and stream valley. Sometimes just the valley is meant, there it's more economical to use Nahal X once this double meaning has been clarified (Wiktionary?). Arminden (talk) 13:31, 14 September 2024 (UTC)

Block request

Please see Talk:Nahal Ofir#Block request against anonymous activist. Arminden (talk) 21:43, 21 August 2025 (UTC)