Israel’s Environmental Protection Ministry said that it was postponing the execution of an oil transport deal with the United Arab Emirates, freezing the oil project. The recent development has angered environmentalists, beyond contemplation. The agreement which followed the UAE and Israel established diplomatic ties last year.
It is then moved by pipeline through mainland Israel to the Mediterranean port of Ashkelon, from where it would be shipped to Europe. The ministry informed Israel’s state-owned Europe Asia Pipeline Company on Sunday that it rejected an environmental risk survey that was carried out in connection with the deal.
Israel’s Environmental Protection Minister Tamar Zandberg said that she was determined that the government would discuss the deal, which will not contribute to the Israeli economy while threatening the coral reefs of the Gulf of Eilat and the resort town’s tourism. The EAPC’s risk survey said that the severe damage leading to a full loss of the entire content of a tanker or external damage to a tanker and significant loss of content would only occur once every 366,300 years.