The Environmental Protection Ministry on Thursday said that it would not allow oil tankers to enter its Red Sea resort city of Eilat to transport crude oil from the Gulf, as planned under an agreement with partners in the United Arab Emirates Transporting Europe via Israel.
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The announcement could lead to the cancellation of the deal, one of the largest to emerge from the normalization of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates last year. Environmentalists had petitioned the Israeli Supreme Court to block the agreement.
The contract, signed between an Israeli state-owned company and an Emirati and Israeli-owned company, allows oil unloaded from tankers in the port of Eilat on the Red Sea to be transported through Israel in an existing pipeline to the Mediterranean coast.
In response to the Supreme Court petition, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's office said Thursday it would not intervene and instead allow the Environmental Protection Ministry to play its regulatory role in limiting activities that pose environmental risks.
"We have blocked the entry of dozens of oil tankers into the Gulf of Eilat," said Environmental Protection Minister Tamar Zandberg in a statement, adding that Israel "will not become a bridge of pollution in times of climate crisis".
The Israeli Energy Ministry had previously spoken out against the agreement and cited the ecological risks for the fragile coral reefs of Eilat.
Israeli state-owned Europe Asia Pipeline Company (EAPC) involved in the deal said the deal had "significant geopolitical and economic benefits for Israel and its citizens".
EAPC said it is committed to protecting the environment and will continue dialogue with the Environment Ministry about its pipeline activities.
The other company involved in the transaction, MED-RED Land Bridge, was unavailable for comment.
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