Ammon News - A report issued by the International Crisis Group (ICG), which provide solutions and policies to the European Union, revealed information about the gas file and Jordan's import agreement for it from the Israeli occupation, according to the general coordinator of the “Enemy’s Gas Is Occupation” campaign, Hisham Bustani.
By 13 points, the campaign presented a summary of the report submitted to the EU, during a press conference held Monday, they are:
1- Israel-Jordan gas agreements are political, not economic.
2- USA's democratic administration, is the main driving force around what it calls gas diplomacy as a political mechanism to settle conflicts and achieve greater integration of the Israeli occupation in the region.
3- A former U.S. diplomat said Jordan was a “test case” for Washington, which was keen to find out if it could use gas diplomacy in the Middle East.
4- The decision-makers in Jordan enabled the occupation to invest in the gas fields it controls by signing the agreement to import gas from the occupation.
5- The East Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF) was established by two parties at the beginning, "Israel and Egypt" and represented their interests in the field of gas, to include then the joining countries, including Jordan.
6- The EMGF allowed the occupation, for the first time in its history, to move openly in the region, and to be a leading member in an international organization that includes these countries.
7- Expanding the interests of the EMGF is now being discussed, not to talk about gas, energy and economy only, but also to include security concerns.
8- The Jordanian energy ministers who took charge of the matter during the signing of the agreement with the Israeli occupation are not convinced of its usefulness and they are consider it as a threat to Jordan's security, while an American diplomat involved in the file said that through the gas agreement, has become too dependent on Israel.
9- The report showed that the decision-makers in Jordan tried to deceive the Jordanian citizens by showing that the signing of the agreement was with an American company and not an import of gas from the Israeli occupation.
10- The report considers that the idea of transforming the "cold" Peace into a "warm" peace through the gas agreement has failed.
11- The idea of exporting gas from the region to Europe through pipelines, according to the expression of the report, is over and dead. It is neither economically feasible nor politically feasible, and it does not meet the urgent European gas needs now.
12- The report calls for focusing on discharging the region's gas within the region itself to local customers and achieving greater integration of the region through gas and renewable energy projects, and calls on the EU to use its influence and authority financially and diplomatically to achieve this goal.
13- The report revealed new projects to sell the gas produced by Israel to Gaza through the “Gas for Gaza” pipeline project, while foreign donors give the Israeli occupation the price of the gas. However, what stops this project is the Israeli occupation itself, because it does not want to give preference to Hamas, and the report also revealed other projects promoted by the Palestinian Authority through which the Israeli occupation, in partnership with Egypt, invests in the gas fields off Gaza and exchanges them for the gas under the control of the occupation.
The report said that the US launched "gas diplomacy", looking to use the new energy wealth in the region to bring its conflicting countries to the negotiating table.
The U.S. spearheaded “gas diplomacy” to advance separate gas deals between Israel and Jordan, Israel and Egypt, and Israel and Lebanon.
The report also indicated that Israel and Egypt, the new beneficiaries of the new discoveries in the gas fields, established the EMGF.
The report considered that the maritime border demarcation agreement between Israel and Lebanon is more important than the signed gas agreements, given that the agreements with Jordan and Egypt did not do much to warm the cold peace.
The agreement with Jordan constituted a lifeline for Israel's potential in the field of gas export, noting that the size of the Leviathan gas field, from which Jordan imports, made it ideal for export, but the Israeli domestic demand alone would not have made it a productive investment for the profitable.
The report quoted statements by former Jordanian energy ministers about the gas agreement:
- A former Jordanian energy minister said “Jordan … gave Israel the ability to commercialise its own gas”.
Israeli Energy Minister described the pact as a “historic landmark”, calling it the most important example of economic cooperation between the countries since the 1979 Camp David peace agreement, and saying it would revolutionise the Israeli economy.
A former Jordanian energy minister said: "The gas agreement makes no sense. If we have an LNG terminal and are importing gas, why would we need Israeli pipeline gas? People are against any agreement with Israel on human rights grounds. But also, why place yourself at their mercy? They can close the tap at any time."
A former Jordanian energy minister also said: No one in the government could do anything about it. And no one could defend it publicly because no one can adopt the narrative of the need to buy gas from Israel.
A Former Jordanian Energy Minister: Personally, I do not think that Israeli gas imports constitute a great gain.
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