Israeli environment minister says UAE oil deal is blocked

By TIA GOLDENBERG
Associated Press

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel’s Environment Minister said Thursday a clandestine oil deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates has effectively been blocked. Tamar Zandberg told Israeli Army Radio Thursday the deal “cannot be realized.” The secret deal would have increased the amount of oil tankers docking and unloading in the Israeli resort city of Eilat. It was struck last year under Israel’s previous government following the historic agreement establishing formal diplomatic ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. Israeli environmental groups had asked the country’s Supreme Court to cancel the deal, citing the risk posed by parking supertankers alongside Eilat’s fragile coral ecosystems.