Environmental groups hail decision to back down on increasing oil imports
PM, ministers agree to pause move that would have allowed more crude oil to enter Israel via southern port of Eilat, despite pressure from state-owned Europe Asia Pipeline Company
Sue Surkes is The Times of Israel's environment reporter
Environmental activists on Wednesday hailed as a victory a decision by the government to back down from a controversial move to allow more crude oil to enter the country via the southern port of Eilat.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Energy Minister Eli Cohen, Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman and Regional Cooperation Minister Dudi Amsalem decided to remove a proposed government decision on the matter from the agenda.
The ministers instead agreed that the oil port in Eilat, managed by the state-owned Europe Asia Pipeline Company (EAPC), would continue to function for the sake of the economy, and that Silman would reply to any EAPC request for an increase in oil quotes within 60 days.
They also decided that the EAPC would submit an up-to-date environmental risk survey within six months.
If approved, the original government decision — circulated in draft form to ministries last month — would have overridden the Environmental Protection Ministry’s 2021 policy of “zero additional risk” in the Gulf of Eilat.
That policy capped oil imports at two million tons (around 14.6 million barrels) annually in an attempt to limit the chance of oil contamination.
Eilat, on the Red Sea, is home to some of the world’s most important coral reefs. The reefs underpin the city’s tourism industry.
A statement issued by the campaign headquarters of the environmental and public health organizations and local authorities that fought the government move to increase the flow of crude oil congratulated Silman and government officials for resisting pressure from the EAPC.
“We condemn the pressure exerted by the EAPC to double the quantities of oil that would be unloaded and flow through the Gulf of Eilat, Ashkelon and the Negev — oil that is not intended for the Israeli economy but for the EAPC’s business profits,” the statement added.
Opponents of an increase had drawn attention to the dangers an oil spill could cause for nature and the environment, public health, tourism and shoreline desalination plants.
An EAPC spokesperson said the company had no response to the decision.
The EAPC manages overland oil pipelines between Eilat and its other port in Ashkelon on the Mediterranean coast. These run through the Negev Desert.
In 2020, the EAPC signed a memorandum of undersanding with a company called MED-RED Land Bridge, a joint venture between Israelis and Emiratis, to transport Gulf oil to Europe via Israel’s land bridge.
In 2021, however, the Environmental Protection Ministry adopted its “zero additional risk” policy following the submission of what the ministry regarded as two unsatisfactory EAPC environmental risk surveys.
Since then, the EAPC has been pressuring government ministries and the Prime Minister’s Office to scrap the policy and substantially increase oil imports.
The EAPC has a poor environmental record. Among numerous past leaks, it was responsible for the largest environmental disaster in Israel’s history in 2014. After a pipe broke, some 5 million liters (1.32 million US gallons) of crude oil poured into the Evrona Nature Reserve, north of Eilat, contaminating 145 dunams (36 acres) of seasonal water channels.
