a special gidday to Rupert Murdoch, owner of shares in
Golan Heights oil company, Genie or some such sh*t.
Been on the phone to Just Dave recently?
checkit: the daily beast
Israeli-American Company To Drill For Oil In Occupied Golan Heights
by Emily L. Hauser Feb 22, 2013 6:00 PM EST
A Druze shepherd looks for his flock on the slopes of Mount Hermon April 29, 2008 above Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights. (Uriel Sinai / Getty Images)
We don’t talk about it as much, but the West Bank and Gaza Strip aren’t the only territories Israel conquered in 1967 over which it’s still arguing. The Golan Heights was taken in the course of horrific battles with Syria, and though Israel annexed the land in 1981, international law (and, not for nothing, the Syrian people) still considers the Heights to be Syrian territory.
Which is why it’s kind of a big deal that Israel has decided to allow an American-Israeli firm to drill for oil there, as reported by Israeli financial daily Globes this week:
A month before U.S. President Barack Obama is due to visit Israel, the Israeli government has awarded the first license to drill for oil on the Golan Heights. The license covers half the area of the Golan from the latitude of Katzrin in the north to Tzemach in the south.
…the Ministry of Energy and Water Resources' Petroleum Council recommended awarding the license to Genie Energy Ltd. (NYSE: GNE), headed by former minister Effie Eitam.
Globes suggests that “a drilling license on the Golan could cause an international fracas,” but I suspect that what with the daily mayhem and horror that Syria currently faces, it’s a good bet that Assad’s government won’t be able to do anything about it—and I further suspect that this fact crossed the minds of those deciding to award the license.
Some interesting personnel notes: Dick Cheney and Rupert Murdoch serve on Genie’s Strategic Advisory Board, as does Lord Jacob Rothschild, chairman of the Rothschild Foundation. Genie is also the parent company of Israel Energy Initiatives Ltd. (IEI), “which is moving forward on a venture to develop shale oil deposits in [Israel’s] coastal plain.” IEI’s Chief Scientist, Harold Vinegar, likewise serves on Genie’s Strategic Advisory Board....
