BY DONNA WESTFALL
CREDIT TO: ISREALVIDEONETWORK.COM
When Moses led the Jews into Israel he didn’t know there were oil and gas reserves, or did he?
Israel became in independent state in 1948. The majority of their statehood has been in fending off their destruction by surrounding neighbors Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Jordan and most recently from internal attacks from Hamas and the Palestinians. For 65 years they have been almost totally dependent on imports for energy. That’s changed with the discovery of a huge gas and oil deposit which will supply their country for decades.
The Tamar gas field located 56 miles off the coast of the Mediterranean Sea has been fitted with platforms built in Texas and shipped 8,000 miles to Israel. Drilling which started in 1991, came on line in March 2013. Most of the Texas companies approached as investors, it is speculated, would not do business with Israel because they were afraid to upset their Arab customers One small company that had no Arab customers partnered up with Israel.
It’s called the Economic Miracle. Not only will the small country be able to supply their needs they are in a position to export. It’s anticipated that over the lifetime of the Tamar gas field they will have saved $100 billions dollars in coal, diesel and heavy fuel oil imports.
The County has saved 17 million tons of CO2 emissions which means it’s the equivalent of taking all the cars in Israel off the road for a year. Sounds like good news all around except that there are those against what’s been going on.
Israel already spends 20% of it’s budget on defense. Having to protect the gas platforms is increasing that budget. Some members of Knesset are complaining because poverty is increasing and salaries are decreasing. They want more of the gas to remain in the country for their own uses instead of exporting it to bring in billions of dollars in revenues. They want more of the revenues invested in the local economy. There have been protests about the governments plans and lawsuits claiming that the government acted without necessary Parliamentary approval. They want more money invested in domestic programs and less in defense.
