The Ministry of Environmental Protection stated that the risk assessment “does not meet the conditions set by the Ministry of Environmental Protection.”

The Israeli Ministry of Environmental Protection announced its decision to postpone the implementation of the proposed oil transportation agreement with the United Arab Emirates, freezing a project that angered environmentalists.

The agreement follows the UAE and Israel Establish diplomatic relations Last year, Gulf oil will be transported by tanker to the port of Eilat in the Red Sea, and then transported by pipeline to the Mediterranean port of Ashkelon via mainland Israel, and from there to Europe.

The oil transaction involving the Israeli state-owned Eurasian Pipeline Company (EAPC) and an Israeli-UAE company called MED-RED Land Bridge Ltd has not yet started.

But activists have issued warnings about potential threats to corals in the northern Red Sea off the coast of Eilat.

The Israeli environmental organization challenged the plan in court on the grounds that there is a risk of destructive leakage or leakage. It is estimated that tens of millions of tons of crude oil will pass through Israel each year.

risk assessment

EAPC filed a response in court last week, providing a risk assessment that stated that the risk of increased crude oil flow is minimal.

But on Sunday, the Israeli Ministry of Environmental Protection stated that the risk assessment “does not meet the conditions set by the Ministry” and was therefore invalid.

The ministry told EAPC in a letter that it is “deferring the evaluation of your preparations for increasing Eilat port activities until the government discusses the project and reaches a decision.”

The recently sworn-in Minister of Environmental Protection of the Left Merets Party, Tamar Zandberg, made the decision to freeze the implementation of the agreement. He has been an outspoken opponent of the EAPC-UAE agreement.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s government spokesperson stated that his office has “requested the court to extend the time to respond to a petition from an environmental group”.

A spokesperson for EAPC declined to comment.

Activists believe that because EAPC is a state-owned enterprise working in the sensitive energy sector, the transaction avoided strict regulatory review.