Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman says his party will vote against a cabinet decision to override the Antitrust Authority and implement a controversial agreement on the development of Israel’s offshore natural gas reserves, according to Ynet.
“My back will not serve as a trampoline,” Liberman says.
Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman at a party meeting at the Knesset, June 15, 2015. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
“If the prime minister is concerned over the gas market, he should instruct the economy minister to sign the gas outline.”
The Knesset vote is the last legal hurdle before a partnership between the US company Noble Energy and the Delek Group of Israel makes them the sole developers of the Tamar and Leviathan natural gas reserves off the coast of Haifa.
Noble and Delek have been selling gas to the Israeli market from the Tamar field, which went online in 2013, and have agreed to sell to neighboring countries as well. The Leviathan field, the largest gas field in the Mediterranean, has not yet been developed.
The Noble-Delek partnership has been branded a de facto monopoly by Antitrust Commissioner David Gilo.
Economy Minister Aryeh Deri, who would have had the power to overrule Gilo, announced last week that he would not exercise his authority, forcing Netanyahu to bring the matter to a cabinet vote.
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