Israeli news reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is sending his personal envoy Yitzhak Molcho to Cairo within a few days to resolve the natural gas dispute with Egypt.
Meanwhile, the Israeli Calcalist newspaper said Netanyahu can waive the debt owed to the Israeli Electric company according to Article 4a of the law on government corporations. The law authorizes public companies to take actions contrary to normal economic and commercial practices if necessary, pointing out that the company had applied this article when it supplied electricity to the Palestinian Authority for political and security reasons, although the latter owed it two billion shekels.
But the Petroleum Ministry did not comment as to whether it would hold negotiations with Molcho, while a ministry official said the ministry will challenge the arbitration within six weeks, adding that it has strong evidence that supports its position.
For his part, Medhat Youssef, former vice president of the General Petroleum Authority, said the Israeli company must waive the full value of the fine for Egypt to resume gas imports from Israel.
He rejected a suggestion to pay the fine on installments. “This is an implicit recognition of the arbitration,” he said.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
