10,000 Rally In Tel Aviv in Protest of Natural Gas Regulations in Israel

Over 10,000 people rallied Saturday in Tel Aviv and thousands more elsewhere around Israel, in protest of the proposed natural gas regulatory framework that is being advanced by the government. It was the second Saturday running that demonstrations took place.

About 10,000 people attended the biggest rally, which was held in front of the National Theatre in central Tel Aviv. Among the demonstrators' demands was the imposition of a natural gas price control and a limit on the price to $3 per one million British Thermal Units (MMbtu)--the current price is $5.5 MMbtu--and elimination of the framework even if that means a delay in the development of Israel's natural gas assets. Demonstrations were renewed the previous weekend following a few weeks' hiatus during the traditional holidays.

Last week, a petition was also filed to Israel high court seeking to strike out a certain article from the natural gas framework. The petition was filed by the College of Law & Business in Israel. The plaintiffs asked the high court to cancel the section in the framework in which the government commits not to make any regulatory or judiciary amendments to regulation and laws for at least 10 years, as well as to oppose such moves if those are to be suggested by either parliamentarians or regulators.

In a government resolution from last August, the government included a section under the title "The Existence of a Stable Regulatory Environment" in which the government has committed neither to raise taxes nor to change regulations. According to the plaintiffs that section is not compatible with the public interest.