Israel could export recently
discovered natural gas to Jordan and the Palestinian
Territories, Israeli Energy Minister Uzi Landau said at a
conference in Athens today.
The government wants to be sure that a possible agreement
to develop a gas field off the Gaza Strip will benefit the
Palestinian Territories and won’t be used to finance the Hamas
movement that controls Gaza, Landau said.
“We want to promote economic agreements with Palestine,
but Israel wants to be sure that a gas agreement will benefit
Palestinians and their power, desalination and sewage plants,”
and not finance weapons purchases, he said.
Gas could also be exported to Asia or Europe, Landau said.
Once a decision on how to export the gas is made, between
seven and 10 years would be needed to make it happen, Landau
said. Of the estimated 3,500 billion cubic meters of offshore
gas reserves in the eastern Mediterranean, about 40 percent are
in Israeli waters, he added.