Jordanian minister defends gas deal with Israel

Facing down growing domestic opposition to a $15 billion natural gas deal with Israel, Jordan’s Energy Minister Mohammed Hamed defended the proposal in parliament Tuesday ahead of a vote.

Hamed warned lawmakers that without the agreement, Jordan’s energy needs could hold the country hostage to an unforeseen group or government in the future.

Hamed’s address comes as a grassroots “Say No to Natural Gas Deal with Israel” campaign has been gaining traction in recent weeks, with 79 out of 150 Jordanian parliamentarians opposing the deal in protest over recent clashes between Israelis and Palestinians in East Jerusalem, where Jordan used to hold sway.

Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom signed a memorandum of agreement in September that outlines Israel supply natural gas from its Leviathan reservoir to Jordan over a 15-year period.

The gas would be transferred across the border via a pipeline, and, according to a Financial Times estimate, would slash Jordan’s annual energy expenditure by $1.4 billion.

Militants have regularly targeted gas pipelines running between Israel, Jordan and Egypt in recent years, prompting Amman to look elsewhere for natural gas imports.

Jordan’s energy imports have been interrupted numerous times, most recently in October when a gas pipeline between Jordan and Egypt was attacked in the Sinai Peninsula.

However, rising tensions in Jerusalem over fears of a change in the Temple Mount’s status quo has precipitated a deterioration in bilateral relations between Israel and Jordan and spurred dozens of anti-Israel protests throughout the kingdom, threatening economic cooperation between the two countries.

The Temple Mount houses the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque — Islam’s third holiest site — and is revered by Jews as the location of the biblical Jewish temples, Judaism’s holiest place.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II has publicly criticized Israeli policies toward Palestinians and during the ongoing tensions over the mosque, while Jordanian officials have warned Jerusalem it may reassess the two countries’ 20-year peace treaty.

Under the present arrangement in the Temple Mount, the site remains under Jordan’s religious custodianship as part of the 1994 peace agreement. Jews are allowed in the compound, but are barred from religious worship or prayer.

Last month Jordan recalled its ambassador to Israel in protest over what it called “unilateral Israeli violations” of the Muslim holy site, despite repeated reassurances by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the status quo on the Temple Mount would remain unchanged.

Earlier this year, Israel signed a separate deal with Jordan to supply $500 million worth of gas to the Hashemite Kingdom from the Tamar natural gas field in the Mediterranean. In addition, Israel has signed a 20-year, $1.2 billion deal with a Palestinian firm, as well as a letter of intent to supply energy to an Egyptian facility as well.

The Leviathan reservoir, Israel’s largest offshore natural gas deposit, located 130 kilometers (81) miles off the coast of Haifa, boasts an estimated 16-18 trillion cubic feet of gas, and is expected to become operational in 2016.