PM’s office looking to overturn environmental rule, bring more oil in through Eilat

Just days after top marine scientists warned about the environmental risks facing the seas, the Prime Minister’s Office circulates for comment among ministries the draft of a government decision to increase the amount of oil entering the country at the environmentally sensitive southern port of Eilat, and to approve the import of oil-based distillates as well.

In November 2021, the Environmental Protection Ministry imposed a policy of “zero additional risk” in Eilat, home to some of the world’s most important coral reefs. The reefs underpin Eilat’s tourist industry.

That followed the submission of what the ministry regarded as two unsatisfactory environmental risk surveys from the state Europe Asia Pipeline Company, which runs overland oil pipelines between Eilat on the Red Sea and Ashkelon on the Mediterranean.

A month later, three environmental organizations withdrew a petition to the High Court against a major oil agreement signed between the Europe Asia Pipeline Company and businessmen from Israel and the United Arab Emirates after the government declared there would be no interference with the Environmental Protection Ministry’s policy regarding the addition of risk.

But the EAPC has applied strong pressure on the government, and by February 2022, the Prime Minister’s Office was calling for a policy review.
The document circulating now for comment is the result of that review.

The Environmental Protection Ministry currently prohibits the EAPC from importing more than two million tons of oil annually, although it has shown some flexibility for oil for Israeli use only since the start of the war against Hamas in Gaza.

The proposed government decision specifies canceling the zero-added-risk policy, extending the wartime flexibility to bring in more oil, and canceling the condition that oil imported during the war must be for local use only.

In response to the call, the EAPC highlighted their work in creating a strategic oil reserve for Israel and said that the current war had only highlighted the need for Israel to have two functioning ports that processed oil.

“The EAPC will continue to operate and take care of a continuous supply of energy all year round for the benefit of the residents of Israel.”

The draft government decision also calls for creating a team led by the Energy Ministry’s director general that will examine bringing distillates, including diesel fuel, into the Eilat port.

The team would include representatives from the finance and defense ministries, the planning administration, and the IDF, but not the Environmental Protection Ministry. It would be required to submit its conclusions within 45 days.