EGYPT: Court wants Israel gas deal stopped

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An Egyptian court has ordered a freeze in exporting the country’s natural gas to Israel, stating that the 15-year deal with the Jewish state should be approved by parliament.

Earlier this year, the gas deal ignited a storm of fury after a prominent columnist wrote that Egypt sells natural gas to Israel at lower prices than that of the world market. This preferential treatment toward the Jewish state elicited a vocal campaign by parliament members and activists to stop the deal.

In 2005, the government of President of Hosni Mubarak, without legislative approval, agreed to ship 1.7 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year to Israel. Although Egypt signed a peace treaty with Israel in the late 1970s, any form of cooperation with the Jewish state invites scrutiny and even controversy.

Nevertheless, it is doubtful the court’s decision will actually break the deal. The Egyptian government may appeal the verdict or just turn a deaf ear, as it has with many court verdicts that contradict its interests. The Israeli government downplayed the significance of the ruling, expecting no interruption in the flow of gas.

‘We are absolutely certain that the gas deal with Egypt will be respected along with the trade agreements,’ according to a statement by Israel’s National Infrastructures Ministry. ‘The Infrastructure Ministry has not the slightest doubt that the Egyptian firm will respect the commercial agreements it reached with its Israeli customers.’

-- Noha El-Hennawy in Cairo