This is not about whether exporting 40% of Israel's natural gas is a good or a bad idea. It's about the prime minister's refusal to publicly talk about whether exporting 40% of Israel's natural gas is a good or a bad idea.
By NICOLA SIMMONDSTamar natural gas rig 521(photo credit: Albatross)
Very loud alarm bells should be going off when the deputy attorney-general is forced to explain to the prime minister how the separation of powers works.Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's refusal to discuss the export of natural gas in the Knesset could well be the warning shot for the demise of democracy in Israel.Addressing steps taken by Netanyahu and Finance Minister Yair Lapid pushing through the export of 40 percent of Israel's natural gas via a cabinet vote rather than putting it to the Knesset, Deputy Attorney-General Avi Licht published a legal review last week stating that: "From a legal perspective, it would be desirable if the matter was brought before the Knesset either by deciding on this specific case, or by passing legislation clearly commissioning the government responsibility to decide comprehensive long term policy regarding in the natural gas market."This is not about whether exporting 40% of Israel's natural gas is a good or a bad idea. It's about the prime minister's refusal to publicly talk about whether exporting 40% of Israel's natural gas is a good or a bad idea.Netanyahu's intransience on the matter is disturbing. Sixty three (over half) the members of Knesset signed a document demanding the decision be put to the Knesset and a letter from Knesset Economics Committee chairman Avishay Braverman explained that, "if the decision regarding the export of Natural Gas is not presented to the Knesset for legislative debate, it will have no public legitimacy." Despite these moves, the prime minister hasn't budged and, on Sunday, passed it through a cabinet vote. The public is now awaiting the outcome of the appeal to the High Court of Justice by Opposition Leader Shelley Yacimovich and former Knesset speaker Reuven Rivlin (from Netanyahu's own Likud party) on opening up the debate to the Knesset.On Sunday the prime minister, frighteningly, commented that opposition to exporting natural gas, constituted a "wave of populism sweeping the country." You read correctly. In Bibiland, over half the Knesset members, the deputy attorney-general, chairman of the Finance Committee, leader of the opposition and former Knesset speaker are "populist."The prime minister explained: "It's important that we discuss this matter quickly. We don't want to look like those countries that lingered and have been left with no gas."Or, in Orwellian language: Let the Inner Party deal with this quickly. Everyone else is a prole.Lingering, by the way, would mean making decisions in open parliament, clearing the air of the thick stench of cover-ups and corruption. It would mean making use of documents deliberately concealed from the public such as the Treasury's internal report leaked last week, stating it believed that it was not to Israel's economic advantage to export natural gas; and without the influence of the likes of Yaakov Amidror who resigned on Tuesday as National Security Advisor following revelations that he had allegedly been moonlighting for Nobel Energy, a key player in the affair.In Lapidland, where anti-gas exports activists' requests to meet the treasurer have been turned down, opposition to government policy receives much the same treatment: In a Facebook comment (where else?), Lapid noted that those protesting the export of natural gas were "the most bizarre kind of marginal anarchists." Before elections, Lapid himself wrote (on Facebook, naturally) "The Tsemach Committee Recommendations on (authorizing the export of 40% of Israel's) Gas are mistaken and the gas reserves must be directed towards the good of the citizens of Israel and not to costly exports only serving a few a few tycoons."If only Lapid had Orwell's Ministry of Truth to fix that little nuisance of a quote making the rounds on the web.More disturbing, however, than any of the above is a tiny little comment, buried in the deeper recesses of the Internet that on May 23rd of this year, Attorney-General Yehudah Wienstein told Army Radio listeners how Netanyahu himself asked him to refuse to grant permission to a social protest. Thankfully, the attorney-general refused to grant the prime minister his wish. There are lots of ways to do away with democracy. They don't all include rolling tanks through the streets of Prague.Nicola Simmonds is a British born-tour guide and social activist in Israel.
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