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| Gas route from Israel's eastern Mediterranean fields to Jordan |
BY NATANEL ABRAMOV ON 10/11/16 AT 7:37 PM
Public protests and civil society campaigns have been gathering pace in Jordan in opposition to the $10 billion deal recently signed by the state-owned National Electric Power Company (NEPCO) and suppliers of Israeli gas, serving as a timely reminder of the limits of overt cooperation, economic or otherwise, between Israel and neighbouring Arab states.
Activists have organized street rallies and staged sit-ins outside NEPCO’s offices and in trade union gatherings. A rally in Amman on September 30 reportedly drew 2,000 people before being swiftly shut down by the police. On October 7 a “mass blackout” was held, in which protestors temporarily turned off their lights and electrical appliances.
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The possibility of cooperation between the region’s historical foes has been raised in recent years by the discovery of large, commercially exploitable gas reserves in the Mediterranean basin. The opportunities for ‘economic peace’ are at the centre of the Israeli government’s recent pitch for investment in its offshore exploration blocks. The theory, well-rehearsed by Israeli officials, is that by satisfying the large demand for energy in the Middle East with increasingly abundant Israeli gas, a new mutual interest between Israel and its neighbours is established.
