Study On The Israeli Energy Diplomacy

As one of the most developed economies in the Middle East,Israel needs sustainable and affordable energy to maintain economic development.However,the state has faced a serious energy dilemma since its establishment.First of all,Israel has poor energy resources.Secondly,the conflict between Israel and Arab neighbors has created an ironic geopolitical environment.Although Israel is adjacent to the region with the richest oil and gas reserves,it cannot import oil from these countries because of mutual hostility.The outbreak of the first Middle East War is the concentrated reflection of this deep contradiction.After the war,Iraq decided to close the Mosul-Haifa oil pipeline,which is vital to Israel,and Egypt banned oil tankers heading for Haifa port through Suez Canal.This means that Israel can’t acquire from oil-rich but hostile Arab neighbors in the absence of its own oil.However,the main domestic oil suppliers(Western Oil Companies)chose to withdraw from Israeli market for political reasons.It is worth noting that the long-term and complexity of oil contracts as well as oil companies’ occasionally market-based tendency make it difficult to evacuate in the short term.Therefore,Israel seized this opportunity to negotiate with international oil companies within the framework of the agreement,requiring the latter to deliver oil from outside the Middle East to Israel in order to obtain as much oil reserves as possible.In the process of dealing with international oil companies,Israel has learned experience which laid a solid foundation for the independence of oil supply system and contact of new oil producers.By the late 1950 s,Israel’s goal was basically realized,which not only recovered Haifa refinery and established Delek Group,but also opened up new oil markets including the Soviet Union and Iran.For a variety of reasons,the Soviet Union and Iran failed to play a permanent role in Israeli oil market.With the changes of the Middle East situation and international configuration,Israel turned to the United States and its allies in the late 1970 s.The development of the special relationship between the United States and Israel provided security for Israel’s energy acquisition.After the disintegration of the Soviet Union,Israel expanded its energy sources to CIS countries by means of modern high technology and economic assistance.The new round of Arab-Israeli peace talks,which started after the Gulf War,provided an opportunity for Israel’s engagement with some Arab countries in energy.However,due to the long-term and recurring of the Palestinian-Israeli issue,such contact had little effect.At the same time,Israel has not given up domestic oil and gas exploration.At the beginning of this century,some oil and gas companies discovered several natural gas fields with huge reserves off the coast of Israel,which completely transformed the conditions of oil and gas resources in the country.Israel is varying from an energy-poor country to an energy-exporting country.Accordingly,Israeli energy diplomacy strategy has been adjusted.While maintaining the original energy relationship,the state put more emphasis on energy in gas field and the energy cooperation area turned to the Eastern Mediterranean as well as the European Union.Although this transformation is limited by many factors,it is still a good beginning for Israel.