The Red Sea reefs off the Israeli resort of Eilat host some of the greatest coral diversity on the planet. A symphony in splendid technicolor, the reefs are among the world’s most resilient coral colonies against warming seas. They have also become an unlikely battleground, caught between Israeli diplomatic and business interests, and environmental groups that fear this natural treasure could be in danger.
A clandestine oil deal struck last year as part of the historic agreement establishing formal diplomatic ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates is turning Eilat into a waypoint for Emirati oil headed for Western markets.
Initially hailed as a move that could cement fledgling diplomatic ties and further Israel’s energy ambitions, the deal is now in question after Israel’s new government opened a review. The decision has upset investors and risks a diplomatic spat with Israel’s Gulf allies.
The UAE and Israel, which normalized relations last year as part of the US-brokered “Abraham Accords”, have since signed over $830 million in trade deals and inked numerous trade and cooperation agreements. But the deal between the Europe-Asia Pipeline Company, an Israeli government-owned corporation, and MED-RED Land Bridge, a joint Israel-Emirati venture, remains a secret.
Senior officials in former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government — including his former energy, foreign, and environment ministers — said they didn’t know about the deal until it was announced last September after the accords were signed at the White House.
The pipeline company, known as EAPC, was founded in the 1960s to bring Iranian oil to Israel when the countries had friendly relations. Its operations are shrouded in secrecy, ostensibly for security reasons.
Israeli environmental groups have asked the country’s Supreme Court to halt oil shipments, citing EAPC’s questionable safety record and the risk posed by parking supertankers alongside Eilat’s fragile coral ecosystems.
A senior government official said Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s office asked the Supreme Court for additional time to respond to the environmentalists’ challenge. Israel’s new environment minister has pledged to scrap the pipeline altogether and her ministry has frozen the company’s planned expansion of operations, pending a government decision.
“The Gulf of Eilat is in real danger because of the Med-Red pipeline, and the state of Israel doesn’t need to be the oil bridge for other countries,” Tamar Zandberg said upon taking office in June. Her office declined interview requests.