July 11, 2014 | Ahron Shapiro
Egypt has a domestic gas shortage, even though it continues to sit on decades worth of proven reserves. Industry analysts, as well as some of the world’s top business publications, have made clear that the reason for this shortage has absolutely nothing to do with Israel, which only imported Egyptian gas through a pipeline over a period of about three years, in quantities that amounted to an infinitesimally small fraction of all Egyptian gas exports. Moreover, rather than being the source of Egypt’s gas problem, Israel is today part of its solution, and is now coming to Egypt’s aid to help ease its production shortfall and meet Cairo’s contractual obligations to its trading partners.
In light of these facts, al-Jazeera has plumbed new depths of its historic bias against Israel with its release, with much fanfare, of a documentary on June 9, “Egypt’s Lost Power”, that blamed Israel for “ripping off the Egyptian people” through the purchase of low-priced Egyptian gas, further implying that this sale was responsible for creating Egypt’s gas shortage. It also aired the allegation that Israel is now opportunistically seeking to profit from the crisis and using it as a “tool to screw” and subjugate the Egyptian people.