At the end of its session on the agreement reached by the state with the gas exploration companies, the diplomatic-security cabinet decided that there was justification for invoking section 52 of the Restrictive Trade Practices Law, which allows for the Antitrust Commissioner to be circumvented on a matter involving state security. Minister of the Economy Aryeh Deri was party to this decision, but he waived his authority to sign the section. The matter will therefore come before the full government.
Early next week, the outline of the agreement will be published, and, after comments have been received from the public, it will be presented to the government in one month's time for its decision.
"The Security Cabinet, today unanimously decided that, at this time, it is of decisive importance to move quickly to develop and expand the natural gas fields that have been discovered off Israel's coasts, out of concern for state security and the foreign relations of the State of Israel," the prime minister's media adviser said in a statement.
On the face of it, there is no problem in transferring the minister's powers to the government as a whole, where the settlement with the gas companies seems to be assured of a large majority, but there is a catch. According to the law, such a transfer requires approval by the Knesset, and there the picture is somewhat more complicated, since it is not certain how Knesset members will vote, and what will happen should it not approve the transfer of Deri's powers to the government. Nor is it clear what Minister of Finance Moshe Kahlon, who recused himself from discussions on the gas settlement on the grounds of his personal connections in the industry, will do.
Today's discussion lasted longer than expected, and the scheduled press conference with Minister of Energy, National Infrastructures and Water Yuval Steinitz was therefore cancelled. Nine ministers took part in today's meeting. They were joined by director of the Antitrust Authority David Gilo, who announced his impending resignation last month. At the meeting today, Gilo expressed his opposition to the proposed arrangement with the gas exploration companies.
The point of today's meeting of the diplomatic-security cabinet was not to make changes in the plan or to approve it, but, as mentioned, to decide whether it involves a matter of state justifying the bypassing of the Antitrust Authority director by invoking section 52 of the Restrictive Trade Practices Law.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 25, 2015
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