Protests against gas exports

Hundreds protested in Tel Aviv against the neo-liberal government’s decision to export 40% of Israel’s natural gas reserves. Protesters blocked Ibn Gavirol Avenue and King George Street and waved signs reading: “Don’t give gas to the tycoons” and “Gas exports = national suicide.” Earlier on Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the decision to export 40% of the country’s natural gas reserves. Other protests will be held tonight in front the Finance Minister Yair Lapid’s house in Tel-Aviv and on Saturday night near the Prime Minister’s house in Jerusalem.

The protesters insisted that more natural gas should be available to Israeli use. Yigal Rambam, one of the protesters, said to journalists: “Bibi’s evaluations in planning the future policies of Israel’s governments have been proven as failures. Bibi’s policies has led to a 40-billion-shekel deficit. We urge the country not to export any amount of gas for the next five years, until we can present a responsible energy plan – only then we can export.”


Protesters blocked King George street near Dizengoff Center in Tel-Aviv, on Wednesday night (Photo: Activestills)

Netanyahu will propose to the cabinet on Sunday that Israel reserve 540 billion cubic meters of natural gas for domestic use – a 20-percent jump from previous government recommendations. Netanyahu presented the proposed export policy – a contentious subject since the discovery of Israel’s copious gas supplies – at a press conference in his Jerusalem office on Wednesday afternoon, alongside Energy and Water Minister Silvan Shalom, Finance Minister Lapid and outgoing Bank of Israel Governor Prof. Stanley Fisher.

Representatives from Adam Teva V’Din – Israel Union for Environmental Defense, referred to the government officials as “weak” and slammed their proposal as a “capitulation to the gas companies and tycoons.” Amit Bracha, the organization’s executive director, said: “Instead of acting as is required from an environmental, legal and moral perspective and moving the decision to a transparent discussion in the Knesset, Netanyahu chose to play a lottery with export numbers, to choose a number by fate and bet on the future of our children.”

The reaction of Hadash MK Dov Khenin was even harsher. He called the proposal “a disgraceful capitulation to pressure from tycoons and capitalists and a fatal blow to the economy and society. “The decision to export gas is a robbery of the Israeli public,” he said. MK Khenin accused the right-wing government of employing “sneaky methods” and stressed that the gas resources belong to all citizens.