PM appears in High Court to defend gas deal

Benjamin Netanyahu appears at a High Court hearing in an effort to defend a controversial deal to extract gas from new fields off Israel’s coast.

The PM maintains that the deal with Israeli and American conglomerates is the best option in terms of state security, and will bolster foreign relations as well as help improve the range of energy sources available.

Environmental activists also gather outside the court ahead of Netanyahu’s expected testimony.

“Netanyahu’s insistence on representing the state in its response to the petitions is an unprecedented act of aggression, whose sole purpose is to threaten the judges and send them a message that High Court intervention in ‘economic’ and ‘technical’ issues apparently exceeds their authority,” say the organizers of the demonstration.