The day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu applauded the approval of the gas framework in the Knesset, its creator, Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz was agitated. No longer restrained in his usual demeanor but sharp, livid, clear, and concise, this wasn’t the doctor of philosophy we all know.
“Yes, I take it personally. I’m not one of those apathetic people who treat thing cynically. The Knesset hearing on Monday was difficult for me. Afterwards a few members of the opposition approached me, one of them quietly told me, ‘I noticed you took it personally when I spoke out against the framework… it’s not against you, you know.’ And I played it off, I deflected… but I do it take it personally, it’s frustrating. I know, because they told me, that a big part of the delegations from Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid and Isaac Herzog’s Zionist Union support the framework. They know it’s the best possible outcome. That it’s good.”
Really?
“Yes. They support it, I know. But they won’t dare hold a hearing. They didn’t risk raising it for discussion in the delegation or to offer the delegates the freedom to vote as they wished.”
Are you saying that Isaac Herzog and Yair Lapid are weak and their position is purely political?
“Did you hear what I told Herzog after his speech? I told him, ‘Buji, if we both had to take a polygraph right now we would both admit our support for the deal. Me and you, and we would both be speaking the truth. He smiled.”
Right after the approval in the Knesset on Monday, Netanyahu held a press conference to celebrate the victory. You weren’t there. You weren’t invited. Were you offended?
“I wasn’t offended. There’s no one in Israel who doesn’t know the framework agreement was my initiative. I spoke about it in length in the media, including this week. In general, I received significant support from the prime minister up until now.”
But you didn’t win any favor.
“Slowly but surely the prime minister will learn that needs to praise his ministers’ achievements. He does every so often, but he could it more. I’ll put it this way, encouraging others is something we could all be better at.”
What now?
“In the last three months, after a three-year delay, we managed to formulate a unified government policy. The hardest part was getting all the government offices to agree all the ministries and the regulatory authorities. We even reached an agreement with the relevant companies. We passed it with an overwhelming majority in the cabinet and on Monday this week we passed it with a big majority in the Knesset.”
Great, but it’s stuck. Is it because of Aryeh Deri?
“Economy Minister Aryeh Deri voted for the framework, in the cabinet and in the Knesset. He told the government that the framework was much better than the original draft, that it was improved as he had demanded. He said another important thing: that each additional day of delay hurts the state of Israel.
“After the antitrust regulator said he would not sign off on the framework and quit, I had a meeting with the prime minister and Minister Deri. I said: ‘I demand a clear commitment that clause 52 would be signed. Either that or we transfer the responsibility to me, the energy minister.’ Minister Deri said unequivocally: ‘I will not run from this responsibility, despite the difficulty, despite the public criticism; that is the meaning of responsibility doing what is hard, not what comes easy. I will fulfill my obligation and sign.’”
Deri said that?
“Yes, loud and clear. And then the prime minister told me: ‘If that’s the case, go ahead, you have a commitment.’ I said, ‘Right.’ And we shook hands.”
If Deri shook on it, why isn’t he signing?
“Good question. If I was in his shoes, I would have signed a while ago, probably last month. How could a person who says every day we delay hurts Israel be delaying? Afterwards, about a month later, when I completed the framework before the hearing I presented the initial agreement and Minister Deri recommitted, but this time he presented conditions. He sent a letter, which was published in the media, where he presented several demands. His two primary demands were to lower the price which happened and to sell Karish and Tanin within 18 months. In the updated framework, published two days after his letter, we agreed Karish-Tanin would be sold within 14 months. I implemented those demands. Then we held a hearing, improved the agreement ahead of its day in the cabinet, and Deri announced that he would only sign if and only if both the government and the Knesset pass the framework.”
Maybe he is waiting for incentives?
“Incentives… when every day of delay, in his words, hurts the state of Israel? Is that logical? I can’t understand that. That doesn’t sit right with me. Maybe he wants something? You ask him.”
It doesn’t make sense that you don’t know why he won’t sign.
“I seriously do not. I cannot understand it. I heard enough speculation. When a person says a sentence like, ‘Every day of delay hurts the state’, the only rational, logical outcome is to sign it within the hour.”
Which brings us back to the central question: what now?
“My job as energy minister is to do everything I can to get that gas out of seabed. To end this charade, the damage to our energy security, and to get the tens of billions to where they need to be. I put this framework together; I reached agreements with government offices and companies, and I helped pass it with a large majority in the government and the Knesset. I am not the prime minister, this part is not my responsibility, and I do not negotiate terms between the prime minister and the ministers especially not with the faction chiefs. My demand is clear: I do not care how but this must be solved, between the prime minister and Minister Deri. As the energy minister, I cannot accept that someone would thwart me in my role. To hinder the development of Leviathan or to delay this by another year or two, which could be even longer because conditions keep changing, is something I cannot accept as the energy minister.”
Meaning?
“My demand to the prime minister and Minister Deri is clear: find a solution. Let Minister Deri sign or let him transfer the authority; let the Knesset transfer the responsibility to another minister; or have the prime minister take the power from him temporarily. Yes, the prime minister does have the authority to take over a minister’s responsibility with permission.”
Should Deri quit for the weekend?
“That’s another option. I’m not the prime minister, I am the energy minister. I fulfilled my duty. I demand a solution is found as soon as possible."
Or else?
“Nothing more, I am only saying what I demand as energy minister.”
Are you threatening that you will resign from your post if there is no solution?
“I am not making a threat. I am optimistic and I want this framework to begin. Let me say another thing: It’s almost Rosh Hashana, shana tova to everyone, and it is followed by Yom Kippur, when we wish everyone is signed and sealed in the book of life. I very much hope that there is a signature on the gas framework before then.”
Whose signature?
“The most natural, and fastest, course would be Minister Deri’s signature. If not, drastic measures would be required.”
What would be a drastic measure?
“I do not know and I do not want to speculate because that is the responsibility of the prime minister. I do not run the government for him.”
Are you threatening a personal measure?
“No.”
You repeat the words “I demanded” and “I demand” but refuse to go a step further.
“That is all I am saying, and it is enough at this stage. I have cause for cautious optimism that in the next few days or weeks this matter will be solved one or another.”
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 11, 2015
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