Cabinet to send troubled gas deal to Knesset — but no vote yet

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave the go-ahead for the cabinet to present a controversial natural gas deal to the Knesset on Wednesday, although the agreement will not go up for a parliamentary vote just yet.

By formally giving lawmakers a chance to review the terms of the deal, the cabinet can then call for a vote at any time with just 48 hours of advanced notification.

Netanyahu was also expected to pressure Economy Minister Aryeh Deri to sign off on circumventing the need for the Antitrust Commission’s approval for the deal.

Deri’s refusal thus far to use his ministerial power has already delayed voting on the agreement, since without his approval or that of the antitrust commissioner, the deal cannot advance even if it passes a Knesset vote. David Gilo, the acting commissioner, has announced his resignation over the deal, which he termed monopolistic, and a replacement is not expected to be found soon.

On Monday, Netanyahu had said that the vote on the deal concerning Israel’s natural gas reserves would be put off until a new antitrust commissioner is appointed.

His decision came a day after news broke that a large natural gas field was discovered offshore from Egypt, casting doubts on the viability of the current terms of the deal, which were already under fire by activists and opposition lawmakers.

Deri said last week that he was leaning toward refraining from bypassing the Antitrust Commission, preferring to wait until a new commissioner was installed, a process that could take weeks or months.

Article 52 of the Antitrust Law enables Deri as economy minister to bypass the commissioner and approve the deal between Israel and a US-Israeli energy consortium to develop Israel’s offshore fields, which boosters say will enrich the state coffers by hundreds of billions of shekels.

Us company Noble Energy and the Israel-based Delek Group have been producing gas from the Tamar field off the Israeli coast since 2013. They have also teamed up to develop the offshore Leviathan field, believed to be the largest in the Mediterranean until the recent Egyptian find.

Deri and a number of other coalition lawmakers cried foul over a separate attempt by Netanyahu to push forward a version of the gas deal earlier in the year, prompting the prime minister to abort the vote at the last minute.

However, Deri voted in favor of the recently tweaked deal during the cabinet meeting.

Under the agreed terms, the Delek Group will sell its holdings in the Tamar, Karish and Tanin gas fields within six years and Noble Energy will gradually reduce its holdings in Tamar to no more than 25 percent within that same time frame. During those six years, prices for natural gas will be regulated.