In May of this year, I posted BG Group to back out of Gaza gas deal
In June, Israel wins EU upgrade
In July 2012 BP wins tender to supply Israel with LNG
And now Israel has given Br Gas the go ahead. All these things are naturally related. The peace process is bullshit. The reality of relations is what goes on behind the scenes. Increasingly with Israel’s new found energy wealth, Israel will call the tune. But why would Israel re-instate this deal? Ted Belman
Ya’alon: British Gas natural gas deal in Gaza will finance terror
Former IDF Chief of Staff accuses gov’t of not ordering military action in Gaza so as not to damage BG deal.
BY Avi Bar-Eli, HAARETZ
The public disagreements between former Israel Defense Forces chief of staff Moshe Ya’alon and the politicians running the country have reached a new level, and have put the spotlight on one of the most sensitive affairs in the Israeli economy: the negotiations with BG (British Gas) over the purchase of natural gas from the undersea field off the Gaza coast.
In an article written by Ya’alon that appeared Friday on the Web site of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA), he accuses the Security Cabinet of not ordering military action in Gaza so that it would not damage the chances of reaching a deal with BG.
The Prime Minister’s Office declined to respond to Ya’alon’s comments.
The rights to the offshore gas field belong to BG (60 percent); the Lebanese construction and infrastructure company CCC (30 percent); and the investment fund of the Palestinian Authority (10 percent).
The Gaza Marine field was discovered in 2000 after years of gas and oil prospecting in the area, and the 1.4 trillion cubic feet of gas is worth an estimated $4 billion.
In a highly controversial move, then-prime minister Ehud Barak gave up Israel’s rights to the natural gas field and gave them to the Palestinian Authority for free.
According to Ya’alon, the British government and Tony Blair pressured former prime ministers Barak and Ariel Sharon to agree to a deal, but Mossad head Meir Dagan objected to such an agreement, fearing the proceeds from selling the natural gas to Israel would not benefit the Palestinian public, but instead would finance more terror attacks against Israel.
The negotiations continued for years, due to both the problems of devising payment methods to prevent the transfer of the proceeds to terror organizations, as well as disagreements over the price of the gas.
More recently, the negotiations have been further delayed by a petition to the High Court of Justice by rival natural gas supplier Tethys Sea. Tethys Sea is asking the court to forbid an agreement between the state and BG without the publication of a tender.
Despite Sharon’s refusal to agree to such a deal, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert resurrected the negotiations with BG, and invested quite a lot of energy in trying to reach a deal over the purchase of the gas. This comes despite the increased terror threat from Gaza after the Hamas takeover, said Ya’alon.
“The prospect of an Israeli gas purchase may have played a role in influencing the Olmert cabinet to avoid ordering a major IDF ground operation in Gaza, even though there have been at least 1,000 rocket and mortar attacks against southern Israel since the Hamas takeover of Gaza in June 2007,” he wrote.
He further warned that organizations associated with the international Islamist fundamentalist terror network would be highly motivated to attack British Gas’ production facilities off the Gaza shore, and said he expected Hamas would increase its attempts to damage the Ashkelon power plant as the negotiations with BG advanced.
Ya’alon further claimed that since 2002, Israel has not held a serious, thorough discussion of the security implications of a natural gas deal with BG.
With his controversial statements, Ya’alon is continuing to make headlines.
“The British government seems to have pinned much of its Middle East policy on the successful outcome of British Gas negotiations with Israel. A September 18, 2007, report in the Arabic al-Quds newspaper noted that the British government views Gaza’s natural gas reserves as central to 10 Downing Street’s ‘economic road map’ for the Middle East. Tony Blair’s position, first as prime minister and now as the very active Quartet envoy for Palestinian Economic Development, has been that the Palestinian Authority’s share of the gas sale proceeds, which could reach well more than $1 billion, could serve as the economic fuel to jump-start the Palestinian economy and advance the peace process,” wrote Ya’alon.
He further emphasizes that all the plans to bypass Hamas in Gaza are futile: “British officials have expressed confidence that the gas proceeds can bypass Hamas and benefit the Palestinian public by being deposited and monitored in international bank accounts. Israel also has proposed paying for the gas in goods and services. However, these assessments are mistaken. A gas transaction with the Palestinian Authority will, by definition, involve Hamas. Hamas will either benefit from the royalties, or it will sabotage the project and launch attacks against Fatah, the gas installations, Israel – or all three.”
The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, an independent policy institution, was founded in 1976 by the late Prof. Daniel J. Elazar, and currently is headed by Israel’s former UN ambassador, Dr. Dore Gold.
The JCPA states “it approaches its work without preconceptions to generate new ideas, which may prove vital in Israel’s fight for survival.”
“Israel must consider whether it can afford to be dependant on the Palestinians for such a critical energy asset as natural gas. If Israel becomes the Palestinians’ main gas customer in a multi-year agreement, the PA or Palestinian terror groups could use the continued supply of gas as a lever to pressure Israel to make additional concessions and “gestures” as part of political negotiations. More significantly, the Palestinians could threaten to cut off the natural gas supply to Israel to prevent the IDF from responding to terror attacks and other threats emanating from Gaza or the West Bank,” wrote Yaalon in his essay.
He concludes that while Israel needs additional energy resources, including natural gas reserves, “funneling $1 billion into local or international bank accounts on behalf of the Palestinian Authority would be tantamount to Israel bankrolling terror against itself.”
@ Linda Rivera:
Follow the Money!! Barak is dirtier than Olmert, Sharon and even BB.
Article: Ya’alon: British Gas natural gas deal in Gaza will finance terror
Former IDF Chief of Staff accuses gov’t of not ordering military action in Gaza so as not to damage BG deal…
The Gaza Marine field was discovered in 2000 after years of gas and oil prospecting in the area, and the 1.4 trillion cubic feet of gas is worth an estimated $4 billion.
In a highly controversial move, then-prime minister Ehud Barak gave up Israel’s rights to the natural gas field and gave them to the Palestinian Authority for free. End of article quote.
Gaza is part of Israel and was given by G-d to Jews as an everlasting possession. Gaza and the gas and oil belong to Israel! What a terrible insult to G-D to give away what He gave to Jews to Muslim terrorists. Terrorist savages who are bent on Jewish annihilation.
Hamas Charter of Religious Hate and Religious Mass Murder:
‘Israel, by virtue of its being Jewish and of having a Jewish population, defies Islam and the Muslims. Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.’ “There is no solution to the Palestinian problem except by Jihad.”
Israeli leaders wickedly betray Jews and G-D; rewarding the Muslim G-D haters with G-D given land and four billion dollars worth of oil. The disgraceful message of Israeli leaders to Muslim terrorist killers is: Attack Jews with thousands of rockets. Kill and maim Jews and we will reward you. It is a powerful incentive to increased war against Jewish innocents.
How stupid to trust that the Arabs will care about your interests as a Jew!
Isnt this what Israel has always been doing? Behind all this someone is making millions while betraying Israel. I have never seen a govt that has almost a daily financial corruption scandal among its top leadership. In my view the retreats from lebanon and gaza was related to the corruption of the leaders in charge. common sense demands that there is no gas belonging to the pals and that offshore gaza gas stays in israeli hands. further, to reward perfidious albion, perhaps the most despicable of jew swindlers, is beyond comprehension. an israeli company and the israel i govt must control gaza gas directly. No wonder they keep attacking: they are attacking a ship of jewish fools. I cannot imagine any other people sabotaging itself chronically. Where is this jewish intelligence, specialness and brilliance I hear so much about? A squandered blessing to a nation of buffoons.
@ Laura:
It can’t be–not by logically Torah minded people!
Those Muslim Arab murderers and squatters–have no rights to the wealth of Israel–NO RIGHTS! Ehud Barack is a Godless self hating, Israel hating Marxist dog–this man is a criminal and needs to be treated as such! The decision to use a British company–was very unwise.
Israel has for a long time been directly and indirectly, financially and otherwise–supporting Muslim Arab terror against Israel; as long as Israel’s leaders govern against the Torah–the problem of Muslim Arab terror on innocent Jews–will continue and increase!
What an ass. How can this be considered anything other than treason?