The IsraeliJerusalem Post has disclosed a decline in the supply of Egyptian natural gas to Tel Aviv, calling on the Israeli government to use QIZ protocol as a pressure card on Egypt to ensure the continued supply of gas. In spite of the resentment of the Israel Electric Corporation due to the shortage of gas supplies it had contracted with EMG company - which exports Egyptian natural gas to Israeli -, the Israeli company has not taken any legal action against the Egyptian company in which the Israeli businessman Yossi Maiman has shares. The paper pointed out that the Israeli economy has not benefited from the agreed-upon quantity of gas. During the first month of the deal on export, the Israeli company understood the Egyptian excuses about technical problems that resulted in a shortage in gas supplies, but these problems have not been resolved since then, the paper said.
The newspaper described the decline in the quantity of gas that should be exported to Israel as a kind of discrimination against Tel Aviv, especially as this has not happened with both Syria and Jordan.
The Egyptian economy has benefited from the QIZ protocol with Israel, which granted the Egyptian exports a duty-free access to the U.S. markets. The Egyptian exports increased by $2 billion annually.
The newspaper added that at a time when $2 billion enter the Egyptian Ministry of Finance annually from the QIZ, the Israeli energy sector is suffering duet to the Egyptian government's inability to fulfill its commitments. Egypt signed the QIZ protocol in 2004 with the Israeli side, represented by Ehud Olmert when he was Minister of Tourism and Trade. The protocol was signed by the Egyptian Minister of Trade and Industry Rashid Mohamed Rashid.
