Photo Credit: Flash 90
A view of the Israeli 'Yam Tethys' natural gas processing rig.

Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz says the ministry will bar the import of cars that run on gasoline and diesel fuel by the year 2030.

Speaking Tuesday (Feb. 27) at an energy conference in Tel Aviv, Steinitz said Israel plans to base the transportation and energy industry on natural gas and/or electricity within the next 12 years.

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By 2030, the ministry is aiming for production of electricity using a mix of 83 percent natural gas and 17 percent renewable energy “with zero pollutants,” he said.

Already by the end of 2018, Steinitz said electricity production is to be reached with 71 percent natural gas, about 25 percent coal and 2 to 4 percent renewable energy. By 2030, coal will only be used for emergencies and back up purposes, he said.

Steinitz added that the natural gas deal signed this month between the Leviathan gas field consortium of Israel’s Delek Drilling and Noble Energy of Texas, and Egypt’s Delphinus (Dophinus) Holding, as well as the earlier natural gas export deal signed in September 2016 with Jordan, together have worked to strengthen the “peace axis” in the region – a geopolitical success he said was made possible because of the natural gas from the Tamar and Leviathan gas fields.

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Hana Levi Julian is a Middle East news analyst with a degree in Mass Communication and Journalism from Southern Connecticut State University. A past columnist with The Jewish Press and senior editor at Arutz 7, Ms. Julian has written for Babble.com, Chabad.org and other media outlets, in addition to her years working in broadcast journalism.