Jordan parliament votes to ban gas imports from Israel

AMMAN, Jordan — The Jordanian parliament votes in favor of a law to ban gas imports from Israel, weeks after the Jewish state began pumping it to the kingdom in a $10 billion deal.

It remains unclear however whether the government in Amman will back the legislative push against an agreement which it has said improves energy security for Jordanians.

Earlier this month Israel began exporting gas from the offshore Leviathan field to neighbors Jordan and Egypt — the only two Arab countries it has peace treaties with — under a 15-year agreement.

The deal struck with the Amman government sparked streets protests in Jordan, where many consider Israel as an enemy.

“The majority has voted to send an urgent motion to the government” requesting a law banning Israeli gas imports to Jordan, parliamentary speaker Atef Tarawneh says, in remarks carried live by state television.

TV footage shows a majority of MPs in parliament’s lower house stand up to back the motion, which is decided after 58 out of the 130-strong legislature last month demanded such a ban in a letter to the legislature.

The motion passed today will be sent to the government for its approval and must be sent back to the legislature for a formal vote.

The text states that “the government, its ministries and state institutions and companies are prohibited from importing gas from Israel.”

— AFP