Israel's environmental protection ministry said Sunday (July 25) it was delaying implementation of a proposed oil transport deal with the United Arab Emirates, freezing a project that has angered environmentalists.
The agreement, which followed the UAE and Israel establishing diplomatic ties last year, would see Gulf oil brought to the Red Sea port of Eilat by tanker, than moved by pipeline through mainland Israel to the Mediterranean port of Ashkelon, from where it would be shipped to Europe.
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Eilat-Ashkelon Pipeline Company's (EAPC) oil terminal at Israel's southern Red Sea port city of Eilat
(Pיםאם: AFP)
The oil deal, involving Israel's state-owned Europe-Asia Pipeline Company (EAPC) and an Israeli-Emirati company called MED-RED Land Bridge Ltd, has not launched.
Israel's environmental protection ministry said Sunday it was delaying implementation of a proposed oil transport deal with the United Arab Emirates, freezing a project that has angered environmentalists.
The agreement, which followed the UAE and Israel establishing diplomatic ties last year, would see Gulf oil brought to the Red Sea port of Eilat by tanker, than moved by pipeline through mainland Israel to the Mediterranean port of Ashkelon, from where it would be shipped to Europe.
The oil deal, involving Israel's state-owned Europe-Asia Pipeline Company (EAPC) and an Israeli-Emirati company called MED-RED Land Bridge Ltd, has not launched.
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Delegation of Israeli industrialists in the UAE in November 2020
(Photo: Manufacturers Association of Israel)
But on Sunday, Israel's environmental protection ministry said the risk assessment "did not meet the conditions" stipulated by the ministry, and was therefore not valid.
The ministry told EAPC in a letter it was "delaying the evaluation of your preparations to increase activity in the Eilat port, until the government has a discussion and reaches a decision" on the project.
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Ecological damage caused by oil spill in pipeline from Eilat to Ashkelon in 2014
(Photo: EPA)
The decision to freeze the deal's implementation was made by recently sworn-in Environmental Protection Minister Tamar Zandberg of the left wing Meretz party, who has been an outspoken opponent of the EAPC-Emirati agreement.
The oil deal, involving Israel's state-owned Europe-Asia Pipeline Company (EAPC) and an Israeli-Emirati company called MED-RED Land Bridge Ltd, has not launched.urt for an extension of time, in order to respond to the petition filed by the environmental organizations." A spokeswoman for EAPC had no comment.
Activists argue the deal evaded tough regulatory scrutiny because of EAPC's status as a state-owned firm working in the sensitive energy sector.