Israel, the evil purchaser

If Israel is the evil, racist, apartheid, monster state that everyone says it is, why is Israel going to purchase natural gas from the Palestinians?

British gas producer BG Group is making progress in talks about supplying Palestinian gas to Israel from off the Gaza coast but political tensions remain an obstacle to a potential deal, it said on Wednesday.

A deal would have a significant impact on the Palestinian government, which is in the middle of a cash crunch. It would result in $100 million a year in taxes, royalties and equity.

The British newspaper The Times reported that the group was poised to agree on the terms of a $4 billion deal to supply gas to Israel, with representatives from the British energy firm scheduled to meet Israeli negotiators next week.

If Israel were the evil, racist, apartheid, monster state that everyone says it is, she would simply commandeer that part of Gaza that holds the natural gas fields and not pay for it. Funny how that works, though. Israel’s going to seal the deal that can only help the Palestinian economy—well, it would if the leadership weren’t going to steal the money from its people.

The spokesman declined to comment on the estimated value of the 15-20 year project.

Sources close to the negotiations have told Haaretz in the past that the terms of the deal would have to meet defense establishment criteria regarding money transfers to the Palestinian Authority.

At its Gaza Marine site that is in Palestinian hands, BG has found one trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

Israel has said it would like to buy 1.5 billion cubic meters a year of natural gas from BG, as the country aims to increase its natural gas consumption.

I would love to hear the answer to these questions from, say, Adam Shapiro. But then, he’s too busy calling Israel a racist, evil, apartheid, warmongering state to notice that Israel is perfectly willing to get along with the Palestinians. It’s the Palestinians who don’t want to get along with Israel.