by Hillel Fendel, based on an article published in gplanet.co.il
As Lebanon and Hizbullah make threatening, jealous noises, Egyptians cheer the largest drilling ship to ever pass through the Suez Canal – on its way to Israel's off-shore Karish oil fields northwest of Haifa.
Lebanon was astonished to learn very recently that the international Energean company has dispatched its huge FPSO (Floating Production Storage Offloading) ship to the area, and that it has begun to drill. The Lebanese had begun to think that their stalling negotiation tactics, and threats, would succeed forever in preventing Israeli drilling, following 18 months of Energean delays. But, as International Arab Affairs expert Dr. Guy Bechor writes, "they did not understand that over the past few months, the entire world has changed, and that energy prices have rocketed incredibly. The drilling is therefore too worthwhile for Energean to pass up - and the same is true for Israel, Europe, and Egypt [all of which will profit]. Energean has already signed contracts to drill the Israeli oil, to supply some of it to Egypt, and to liquefy it for European use."
In the background are the screeching threats of Hizbullah terrorist leader Hassan Nasrallah, who tends to yell in the speeches he frequently records from the bunker in which he has been hiding from Israel for 16 years. His most recent threat is that Hizbullah, based in Lebanon, will not allow Israel to drill in Israeli off-shore territory that Lebanon claims as its own. "[We] have a courageous, powerful and capable resistant force, which can say to the enemy [Israel]: If you prevent Lebanon from doing this [unclear], we will respond in kind!" He added that in view of his threats, "no international oil company would ever come to drill in this area."
Recent events have, of course, proven him mistaken. Bechor adds that Lebanon has absolutely no wherewithal to launch an attack on Israel.
In his recent report, Dr. Bechor made much of the ship's passage through the Suez Canal earlier this month on its way from Singapore: "The Egyptians were amazed by its size; never had such a ship passed through the canal. They escorted it with four tugboats, for both ceremonial and safety reasons… They cheered it and its crew, and the Egyptian authorities took festive pictures of themselves on the ship. This is because they know that the ship will reach Israel and will drill there, that gas will be supplied to Egypt, and the some of it will be processed in Egypt for use in Europe. They like the idea of these profits." The Egyptians even filmed a movie showing the ship entering and traversing the canal, with happy, grand music as background.
The drilling is expected to be concluded within a few months, and the gas will then start streaming. But nothing goes perfectly smoothly, and the Lebanese continue to insist that the area is theirs. In fact, this past February, the Lebanese hardened their stance and warned Israel by releasing a map "showing" that the area they claim is theirs is three times larger than what they had claimed beforehand! Lebanese President Michel Aoun, 88, said that any Israeli-sponsored activity in the disputed area “constitutes a provocation and a hostile act.”
The Americans were infuriated by this Lebanese escalation, Bechor writes. The special American envoy for this gas topic, Amos Hochstein (who was born in Israel and is a close confidante of President Biden), threatened the Lebanese that if they did not withdraw their map and their new demands, the U.S. would stop supporting the government – or more accurately, stop propping it up. Within days, the Lebanese buckled and withdrew the map.
So why did the elderly Lebanese President Michel Aoun, who is "barely functioning," Bechor writes, "issue a warning to Israel in the first place? It is because Lebanese elections are expected soon, and there is nothing like turning public attention to Israel in order to shift public interest away from the fact that Lebanon is collapsing on all fronts. It is a 'zombie' country that simply doesn't work."
The U.S. and the European nations must issue a joint statement clarifying explicitly that the Lebanese don't have a leg to stand on, and thus end the dispute once and for all. The continued drilling in Karish is an important European interest, not only Israeli.
Why doesn't Lebanon [Bechor puts this name in quotation marks, to emphasize that it is barely a country at all] seek out gas in its own territorial waters, just north of Karish? The answer, Dr. Bechor explains, is "that the government in Lebanon is totally ineffectual; there is no one to sign decrees or licenses, and there is no money with which to pay. No company wants to get involved with an entity run by a terrorist organization like Hizbullah, which is liable to up its demands and change its terms on a moment's notice. Lebanon is also the subject of international sanctions, distancing drilling companies even further. It is not a country, and certainly not one of law and order."
What does the U.S. hold so strongly against Lebanon that made it give in so quickly? First of all, the drilling can benefit Lebanon in the long run, in that the gas sent to Egypt can be piped to Jordan, Syria, and then to Lebanon – "which is suffering," Bechor writes, "from barely any electricity supply, increasing summer heat, and great despair. True, the infrastructures for such in Lebanon for transporting gas are still limited, but the potential is there."
In addition, the U.S. supports the Lebanese Army and actually gives it life. "In short, Lebanese provocations could easily bring about an end to Lebanon itself," Bechor concludes. "Their threats are baseless."
The Israeli Navy, of course, is taking no chances, and is investing great efforts to protect our oil fields and rigs – including with its newly-acquired battleships. In addition, a maritime Iron Dome system will protect the Energean ship and the Israelis working there, some 50 miles from Haifa. Israel's Navy is now no longer just a coast guard, but also the guardian of Israel's seas.