| by Victor Rosenthal
Negotiations are underway between Israel and the European Union for Israel to sell natural gas to Europe, which wishes to end its dependence on Russia for fuel. Italy and Germany presently get 40% and 35% of their gas from Russia, respectively. Russia recently informed Finland – which just announced that it would like to join NATO – that it would stop selling it gas. The dispute is officially about a Russian demand to be paid in rubles, and it represents only a small amount of Finland’s energy supply, but the political overtones are unmistakable. The delivery of Israeli gas, via Egypt, could begin as early as this coming winter. Naturally, I welcome the idea that Israel will be able to help the Europeans in their time of need. It can get very cold in Europe in the winter. So I have prepared a draft of a letter that our government could send to the EU in order to get the ball rolling. It’s warmish now at the end of May, but Berlin, for example, is located at 54.5 north latitude, and temperatures there in January average 1 degree C. So let’s get started!
Dear European Friends and Allies, We in Israel are excited to hear of your interest in buying some of our natural gas. We’ll be happy to sell it to you. But there are a few small bumps in the road to iron out first. So here they are:
We understand that you have strong feelings of guilt for your colonialist past, and for the collaboration of many Europeans with the Nazi effort to liquidate the Jewish people. But it’s absurd, even pathological, to try to ameliorate these feelings by helping the heirs of the Nazis, whose leaders included Hitler’s associate Amin al-Husseini and the Father of Terrorism Yasser Arafat, to continue the Nazis’ genocidal program. We suggest that you apply some of the millions – perhaps billions – that you will save by ending your financial and diplomatic war against Israel to actual humanitarian causes. We also understand that a growing segment of your population is Muslim, and that the great majority of them are anti-Zionist, even antisemitic. Pandering to these attitudes can be useful for short-term political gain, but you should understand that they are also anti-Western. Appeasing them is much like feeding a crocodile in the hope that he will eat you last (apologies to Winston Churchill). We are looking forward to working to provide you with a warm winter, just as soon as you reverse your irrational anti-Israel policies!* Israel |
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@Sebastien
The issue of gas exportation to Europe from Israel was part of the network of increased interdependence of Israel within the greater World economies, which would provide it more security while also providing it a stable revenue stream, and, additionally providing Europe with an ever increasingly affordable alternate energy source for their gas. Of course, the underlying principle was the pursuit of stability. This is what the Trump administration policy was centered upon above all other priorities, and was quickly lost across the board after he left office. It was the pathway to end the Forever War Syndrome which seems to still infect the US psyche. It could also reduce the need for massive US security presence, to some degree, in the Middle East as non-traditional producers, such as Israel, Cyprus and the US entered into a competition with the well established exporting Gas Baron nations. This would help limit the control by these Gas Baron nations over others as they control the costs of the industrial economies and therefore the potential level of profitability as well.
The limited numbers for gas production from Israel, however, when comparing it to Qatar, Russia and others in the article you cited, ignore the reality that these Gas Baron nations have well explored gas sources and even still are expanding their exploration. Meanwhile, Israel is a newcomer to this industry and she too was expanding her exploration with an expectation of the return from that pursuit, which was the purpose of the pipeline. The maintenance costs could be excused as it would help decrease the ever present frictions against Israel, who has never before held any ability to provide a geopolitical reason for EU support of Israel against the likes of her Arab enemies, and to which Victor’s letter explains more fully. Of course, all of that was before the Meretz Elharrar-Hartstein Minister of National Infrastructures, Energy and Water Resources eliminated further gas exploration. Likewise Turkey is blocking Cyprus’ part in the venture. It is as if there was a great conspiracy to eliminate this potential of any competition of gas exportation coming from the Israel-Cyprus fields while also eliminating the pipeline that would have facilitated a more efficient exportation process to Europe, just as the dependency of gas exportation was returned back to the control of the Gas Baron cabal who, once again, with the US elimination of its position as a net exporter of gas, control their monopoly on this geopolitical commodity.
The refusal to exploit this leverage to its maximum, limits Israel’s ability to better position itself with Europe, while maintaining the European position with the Arabs in her absence. It also denies Israel the increase revenues to further enhance the Jewish State financially. Blocking this pipeline is internationally harmful, and domestically, for Israel, devastating. It is in fact just one more move to maintain the status quo of tension and isolation for Israel, which needs to be ended, and the pipeline would have had a great chance of having a hand in achieving this goal.
Otherwise, the article is SpotOn. Are there other things Israel can use as leverage?
@Vivarto Unfortunately, this article would seem to support your argument with facts and figures, assuming they are accurate and comprehensive.
“A cold look at the statistics illustrates Israel’s limitations. According to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy, the country had proven gas reserves of 600 billion cubic meters (bcm) at the end of 2020, or just 0.3% of the global total. By contrast, the world’s top three gas countries were Russia with 37,400 bcm (19.9%), Iran with 32,100 bcm (17.1%), and Qatar with 20,700 bcm (13.1%). Even U.S. reserves (12,600 bcm, or 6.7%) dwarfed Israel’s.
In terms of consumption, Europe uses about 540 bcm annually. Russia reportedly provides about 40% of this, or more than 200 bcm. Yet exports from Israel’s offshore Leviathan field are only around 10 bcm, and the output from its other major field (Tamar) is used to meet domestic power demand.”
https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/reality-check-israels-natural-gas-plans
Item 1: no need to demand anything, just label the gas shipments as if they came from J&S. Maybe make some of the containers/pipes/ships there.
Victor Rosenthal has a wrong idea about the amount of gas Israel can provite.
We don’t have enough to supply Germany.
We are not a gas/oil superpower like Saudi, Emirates or Russia.
Therefore the whole letter is based on a fantasy.
We could potentially provide enough gas for Greece maybe even for Italy, and that’s it.
At the same time gas from Russia is cheaper.
Eventually market forces will win over the American pressure and Germans will find a way to get cheap Russian gas and oil, rather than the expensive gas from other countries.
In some 15 – 20 years from now the nuclear power will became competitive with fossils fuel. But until then, Russia’s position is rather sikker.
Imagine those W.A.S.P Jew hating Proto Nazis in western Europe doing anything decent for Jews…..Sounds great!!!!