Netanyahu says ministers to vote on plan to clean up beaches after tar spill

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the government will vote on a plan Monday to clean up Israel’s beaches, following a massive oil spill in the Mediterranean.

“[Environmental Protection] Minister Gamilel will bring forward a plan tomorrow, with a budget, to clean up the beaches,” Netanyahu says as he visits the shore to scope out the damage.

The prime minister also says he discussed with the Egyptian energy minister, who is on a rare visit to Israel, the possibility that ships in the region be required to operate on natural gas rather than oil.

“I think that if there’s a union of several countries, within a few years we can create a massive change so that we have a clean sea, a clean country and clean beaches,” says Netanyahu.

His comments come following a massive oil spill off the coast, which is suspected to have resulted in the death of many sea creatures, including a whale whose body washed up to the Israeli shore on Thursday.