BICOM

“There is one more obstacle but when I want to accomplish something, I accomplish it; Israel will have gas,” proclaimed Prime Minister Netanyahu yesterday following the vote in the Israeli Knesset that passed the gas deal.

The 59-51 vote was a political victory for the prime minister but does not advance the plan’s implementation. Four members of Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beitenu party voted in favour of the plan, while Ministers Moshe Kahlon, Yoav Galant, Yisrael Katz and Haim Katz were absent due to conflict of interests.

The prime minister’s difficulties advancing the gas deal stem from the formal opposition by David Gilo, the head of Israel’s Antitrust Authority, who alleged that it would de facto create a gas monopoly and hurt competition. To circumvent Gilo, Netanyahu would require Economy Minister Aryeh Deri to exercise his authority under Article 52 of the Antitrust Law, which would allow him to push through the deal based on national security or foreign relations considerations. Deri still refuses to do so.

Yediot Ahronot reports that a few options remain available to the prime minister in order to promote the arrangement. One is that Netanyahu will succeed in convincing Deri to sidestep the Antitrust Authority director. A second is the chance that a Knesset majority can be cobbled together to transfer the authority on this matter to the parliament and to schedule a quick vote. A third option is that Aryeh Deri can temporarily resign and transfer authority to the prime minister who would then bypass the procedural roadblocks in his stead. However, it is believed that David Gilo’s replacement will be more amenable to the deal reached by the Israeli government and that the deal will be approved once he or she is in office.