The submission of Tzemach Committee's final report to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today does end not the government's infighting over natural gas exports. On the contrary, what began as pure professional disagreements has quickly turned into an ugly political ruckus between Minister of Energy and Water Uzi Landau and Minister of Environmental Protection Gilad Erdan.
The personal struggle between Landau and Erdan creates a dilemma for Netanyahu. On one hand is his natural tendency and worldview, which supports gas exports, as Landau demands. On the other hand is his political commitment to Erdan and fears of taking unpopular positions.
The dispute over gas exports began as a disagreement between Tzemach Committee members. On one side was the representative of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and some officials from the Ministry of Energy and Water Resources; on the other side were the representatives from the Ministry of Finance, Bank of Israel, the National Economics Council, and the Antitrust Authority. The material question was whether to permit gas exports, thereby taking a risk that Israel will not have enough gas for its own consumption in a few years; or to postpone gas exports, and risk that developers will flee and that the gas will remain in the ground.
Experts who oppose gas exports now say that there is no reason for haste, and point to the question marks that still hang over the exact amount of natural gas that Israel has and the ability to produce it. "A hasty decision now means that the target has been marked in advance," says one expert.
Free market aficionados compare the oppositionists' stance to a person saying that Israel should not export agricultural produce because that would not leave enough food to eat in the country.
"It takes two to tango," a committee member told "Globes". "The government tells developers to invest billions now to develop gas fields, but that they will only see a return on the investment in 30 years. The government cannot put all the risk on the developers and expect them to wait for so long."
Netanyahu has avoided speaking out on this contentious issue, apparently preferring to let the fire burn itself out. This attitude has already been shown to be effective in the fight over the Sheshinski Committee, when Netanyahu let Minister of Finance Yuval Steinitz lead the fight. In the case of the Tzemach Committee, Netanyahu may not have a choice - it is better to put out the fire now before it becomes a conflagration.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 29, 2012
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