A decision by Israel’s Environmental Protection Minister, Tamar Zandberg, to freeze a major oil deal with the UAE to Israel might lead to ties between the two countries being severed, UAE officials have warned.
The deal to develop the Eilat-Ashkelon oil pipeline would enable UAE oil tankers to unload in Eilat from where oil would be pumped to the Mediterranean port and on to its destination. The route would bypass Egypt’s Suez Canal.
Israel halts UAE oil pipeline deal after environmentalists warn that the project may harm corals. @JodieCohen613 brings you this report pic.twitter.com/CMOgtx2PrU
— WION (@WIONews) July 27, 2021
“It is serious because we have a deal that is now frozen by one side, the Israeli side, but at the same time I think that the Emiratis do understand that this is a new government with totally different policy lines,” explained historian Professor Yoram Meital to Media Line. “The deal was dubious when it was signed and is much more controversial today, and this is the background to the freeze.”
Speaking to Israel Hayom, UAE officials pointed out that the agreement was signed after all necessary tests were carried out. “Its annulment could certainly lead to an erosion of the ties being formed with the Israeli government and commercial interests,” they warned.
With the potential for hundreds of billions of dollars of business, if implemented, Meital does not believe that freezing the deal will result in a lasting diplomatic crisis. “It’s too early to say if it will lead to serious tension or a crisis, but I don’t think so. No one would like to risk the peace treaty itself.”
#Israel’s decision to freeze a proposed oil pipeline deal with the United Arab Emirates marks the first real test of the Abraham Accords that normalized Israel-#UAE relations but is unlikely to lead to a lasting diplomatic crisishttps://t.co/5Rfd0z73M5
— The Jerusalem Post (@Jerusalem_Post) July 27, 2021
The UAE signed a controversial US-brokered normalization deal with Israel in September, officially establishing diplomatic and trade ties.
The deal was slammed by the Palestinians as a move that weakened a long-standing pan-Arab position that only an Israeli withdrawal from occupied Palestinian territories and the establishment of a Palestinian state will open doors for normal relations between Tel Aviv and Arab countries.
(MEMO, PC, Social Media)
