A verbal altercation took place today between Minister of the Economy and Shas Party chairman Aryeh Deri and Minister of National Infrastructure, Energy, and Water Resources Yuval Steinitz. The confrontation, which concerned the natural gas plan, occurred during the cabinet discussion about reform in the Civil Service Commission.
At the discussion, in which the ministers complained that the regulators and legal advisers were making it difficult for them to do their jobs, Deri said, "There is no need to be afraid of the regulator, or anyone else." His comment irritated Steinitz, who responded, "The gas is stuck in the ground because of you; you're holding everything up."
After Deri finished his remarks, Steinitz said that Antitrust Authority director general Prof. David Gilo, who had resigned because of the gas plan, had boasted in interviews this month after the government decision that it had not been carried out because Deri had not signed the transfer of authority to the entire cabinet. Steinitz said that this was an example of a case in which a decision by the cabinet and the Knesset was not being implemented because of the opposition of a single minister.
"You're bringing it up here, too? What business of yours is my signature?" Deri came back. Steinitz answered, "What business is it of mine? It's my job to take care of development of the gas sector, and you're keeping me from doing my job." Deri countered, "You haven't done a thing as minister about the gas since they discovered it five years ago."
The background to the tension between Steinitz and Deri is Deri's failure to transfer his authority to the cabinet. Two weeks ago, the Knesset approved the gas plan by a 59-51 majority. The approval is merely declarative; it has no practical significance, because the second part of the plan - transferring authority to bypass the Antitrust Authority director general - was not put to a vote, since the coalition was not able to muster a majority for it. The result is that the gas plan has been left on the shelf.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 20, 2015
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