Reading a repeated refrain in releases from the revolution in Egypt, youd think that ex-dictator Hosni Mubarak had been the energy minister of the State of Israel. So ridiculous was the deal that Egypt gave Israel on natural gas the releases would have us believe that Mubarak was actually guilty of malfeasance. A bit of advice for the nationalistic chauvinists now in charge in Egypt: Be careful whom you punish.
Punishment is indeed the policy that Egypt now seeks. It wants to cancel the deal with Israel and force Israel to pay up some $714 million for the natural gas it has bought from Egypt. Forget the fact that Israel conquered the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt in a defensive war in 1967, that Israel got most of its oil from the peninsula and did what it didnt have to it gave the land and its natural resources back to Egypt. Forget the fact that Egypt and Israel signed a peace agreement and that peace partners often help each other out. Forget the past. Look only to the future. And what do you behold?
Israel with trillions of cubic feet of natural gas off its coast, the rich fields now being developed. It is hardly a fantasy to foresee the time when Egypt will need Israel for natural gas, not the other way around. And how will Israel feel about giving Egypt a break for that gas if Egypt now punishes Israel for the deal Mubarak made?
Copyright © 2011 by the Intermountain Jewish News
