State proposes extending secrecy for state-owned oil infrastructure firms
Draft notice posted to government website without publicity, giving public until May 5 to respond to proposal for the Europe Asia Pipeline Company
Sue Surkes is The Times of Israel's environment reporter
The government is proposing to extend the secrecy conditions covering the controversial state-owned Europe Asia Pipeline Company for an additional 18 months after the current arrangements expire on June 1.
The draft order was posted on a government website without any public announcement and is open for public comment until Monday, May 5. This leaves two full working days from now, with two public holidays in between, and a weekend.
The proposal was first noticed by the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, which opposes allowing the pipeline to operate in secrecy.
The proposal is subject to approval by the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
The Europe Asia Pipeline Company — formerly the Eilat Ashkelon Pipeline Company — is the best-known of three state companies established by Israel decades ago in a secret partnership with the shah’s Iran.
Until the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the severing of bilateral relations, Iranian oil was quietly picked up by Israel in Eilat on the Red Sea and transported overland to Ashkelon on the Mediterranean, from where it could be shipped to Europe.
It was also used by Israel for internal purposes.
If the draft order is approved, the law will continue to ban the publication of information about the EAPC or any of the three companies associated with the original Israel-Iran deal — the EAPC’s predecessor, the Eilat Ashkelon Pipeline Company, the Eilat Corporation SA, and Trans Asiatic Oil, Ltd. Each fulfilled a different part of the agreement.
The prohibited information includes the identity of shareholders, details about oil deals, the company’s worth, and management issues.
The few subjects that can be made public include the environment, planning and building, business registration, safety measures, permits, licenses, and orders given by state bodies, supervision and enforcement carried out by bodies such as the Environmental Protection Ministry and the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, and violations and malfunctions.
Last year, for the first time, the state approved allowing inspectors with security clearance from relevant local authorities and the Israel Nature and Parks Authority to view confidential company information for the purposes of environmental supervision. The authorities govern areas in and around Eilat and Ashkelon in southern Israel, where the EAPC maintains its oil ports.
Local authorities and environmental groups have long claimed that the secrecy prevents them from supervising and monitoring polluting activities to protect the environment.
That ability to supervise has been further hampered by the retirement of several board members, most recently the chairman, Erez Halfon, without the positions being refilled. Just one director remains — Gal Landau, head of the Finance Ministry’s Intelligence Bureau — when at least three directors (excluding employee representatives) are legally required to hold meetings. According to Hebrew media, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Regional Cooperation Minister David Amsalem are arguing over potential candidates.
Oil leaks connected to the company have caused some of Israel’s worst environmental disasters over the years.
Environmental campaigners have long warned of the dangers an oil spill could unleash on Eilat’s climate-resilient coral reefs. These are not only important as the world continues to warm, but also underpin much of the tourism industries in Israel, Jordan, and Egypt.
An EAPC spokeswoman referred The Times of Israel to the Finance Ministry for queries, saying it was not a party to the secrecy extension.
The Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel is preparing its response. A spokesman said it was crucial to increase oversight of the EAPC and not allow it to continue hiding behind a veil of secrecy.
The Times of Israel Community.