DUBAI (Dispatches) – The Red Sea reefs off the resort of Eilat in the occupied territories 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 the Zionist regime’s interests, and ecological 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 the occupying regime and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is turning Eilat into a waypoint for Emirati oil headed for Western markets.
Initially hailed as a move that could cement fledgling ties and further the occupying regime’s energy ambitions, the deal is now in question after the regime’s new cabinet opened a review.
The UAE and the Zionist regime have since signed more than $830m in trade deals and inked numerous trade and cooperation agreements.
But the deal between the Europe Asia Pipeline Company, a Zionist regime-owned corporation, and MED-RED Land Bridge, a joint Zionist-Emirati venture, remains a secret.
Senior officials in former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet – including his former energy, foreign and environment ministers – said they did not know about the deal until it was announced last September, after the accords were signed at the White House.
Environmental groups have asked the occupying regime’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.
As for an oil spill, it is “not a question of if it will happen, but when it will happen”, said Assaf Zevuloni, a Nature and Parks Authority ecologist in Eilat. Even a small rupture or human error would have disastrous consequences, he said.
The occupied territories suffered its worst ecological disaster in February when a spill in the eastern Mediterranean coated virtually all of its 270km (170-mile) coastline with oil. The petitioners – three environmental groups – argued that incident would “be dwarfed alongside a massive oil spill” off Eilat.