Egypt`s national gas company EGAS on Sunday announced that it was backing off the long-term deal to supply Israel with gas which was signed along with the peace treaty between the two countries in 1979.
According to local media, the reasons behind the cancellation -- as EGAS told Ampal-American Israel Corporation, a partner in the East Mediterranean Gas Company (EMG), are the continuous sabotages to the cross-border pipeline which have been taking place since Hosni Mubarak`s ouster in February 2011.
"This is a dangerous precedent that diminishes the peace treaty, " Steiniz was quoted as saying on Sunday evening.
Opposition leader Shaul Mofaz also charged against the cancellation. "It is a new low in the relations between the countries and a clear violation of the peace treaty," Mofaz told The Jerusalem Post daily.
Senior officials warned that a cancellation of the gas deal could cause energy shortages this summer, although the Minister of Energy and Water Uzi Landau said that "Israel is working towards cementing its energy-related independence."
Xinhua
Editor: Jafar M Sidik
Copyright © ANTARA 2012
