Skip to main content

Pressure mounts against importing Israeli gas to Jordan

While Jordan is expected to start receiving natural gas from Israel in a matter of weeks, demands that the government cancel the deal are growing.
RTSS8Z9.jpg

Israel will begin exporting natural gas to Jordan through a pipeline within two weeks, Israel’s Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz announced Dec. 3. While there was no official confirmation from the Jordanian side, Dima Tahboub, member of the Islamist-dominated Al-Islah bloc at the Lower House and a critic of the gas deal between Jordan and Israel, tweeted Dec. 6 that the countdown has begun for “the enemy to take hold of” our energy. She said her bloc will submit a draft law soon to bar the import of “gas from the Zionists.”

The controversial $15 billion, 10-year contract between Jordan National Electric Power Company and an Israeli-American gas consortium signed in 2016 has been criticized by lawmakers, professional unions and activists. Online campaigns have been launched on Twitter using the hashtag #StopGasDeal, and protests were staged in Amman and other governorates as a pipeline was being built between Jordan and Israel. 

Access the Middle East news and analysis you can trust

Join our community of Middle East readers to experience all of Al-Monitor, including 24/7 news, analyses, memos, reports and newsletters.

Subscribe

Only $100 per year.