This fall, the citizens of Israel have to say sorry and thank you to two people: former Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz and former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. They passed the gas plan, and thanks to them we enjoy energy security and sane prices, while Europe is in turmoil.
It's hard to say thank you for something that was avoided, but it's enough to take a look at Europe, where gas prices are skyrocketing and inflation is skyrocketing, to understand how much we owe them.
For their insistence, for their strategic understanding, for standing up to pressure and for their determination.
Without the insistence of Steinitz and Netanyahu, the gas would have remained in the middle of the sea.
Remember the "gas robbery" campaign?
A personal, ugly and slanderous campaign was conducted against the two, while using a tremendous pressure press, with the main message being that they joined hands with the gas tycoons against the public.
The campaign, launched by civil organizations, political activists and Knesset members, was one of the most venomous.
Some of its leaders later occupied Balfour, in just-no-Bibi demonstrations.
Former MKs Miki Rosenthal, Tzipi Livni, Zehava Galon, cried out against the gas outline, and the former member of Knesset Sheli Yachimovich did the same, who stated that "it is better that the gas in 'Leviathan' remains in the ground, there is enough in 'Tamar'".
The Movement for the Quality of Government, a political organization under the guise of justice, called Steinitz a "confused jubilant" and accused him of misleading the public and siding with the gas companies, and among the messages echoed that the blueprint is the one that harms Israel's energy security.
Together, they all petitioned the High Court, where Netanyahu unusually appeared to defend the plan.
After the gas outline was passed by the Knesset, Netanyahu said: "When I want to achieve something, I achieve it. There will be gas for Israel. I want it for the citizens of Israel, to lower the cost of living, to inject huge money into the state coffers, for energy security."
Steinitz added: "We, the State of Israel, the regulators, instead of launching such an outline a few years ago and getting started, were busy fighting and arguing."
And now look at Europe.
As of August 2022, the price in Israel is 5 dollars per unit of heat, in the US it is 9 dollars, and in Europe it ranges from 63 to 92 dollars. In preparation for the coming winter, public libraries and museums in Great Britain announced that they will open their doors to residents who cannot afford to heat their homes. In Germany Factories are stopping production due to the spike in gas prices, and in the UK businesses have already started to close because they have no way to pay the electricity bill in the winter. We in Israel do indeed suffer from the global price increase, there is an increase in food and electricity prices, but when you look at Europe, you realize the magnitude of the human miracle that has been done here .
Israel gains energy security, and this is not obvious, certainly not when you remember the intensity of the pressures and the campaign that was put on the leaders of the outline.
There is nothing to expect from the leaders of the "gas robbery" campaign to repent, not even on Yom Kippur.
The citizens of Israel, for their part, should remember the tsunami that did not arrive, and say thank you.
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