United Kingdom, UK, oil company British Petroleum (BP) and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) have suspended talks on a billion-dollar deal to buy a stake in the owner of a gas field off the coast of occupied Haifa.
Last March, the two oil firms announced plans to acquire a 50 percent stake in Tel Aviv-based NewMed Energy, the owner of the Leviathan gas field. The deal that was in the works was worth around $2 billion.
Talks have been suspended due to “uncertainty created by the external environment,” NewMed said in a statement on 13 March without providing further details.
In November 2023, climate activists held demonstrations outside of BP headquarters in protest against its cooperation with Israel and the genocide in Gaza.
The deal’s announcement was viewed as fostering economic ties between the UAE and Israel, which normalized diplomatic relations in the US-brokered Abraham Accords of 2020.
While the peace deal between the two states remains unthreatened, ties have reportedly soured over Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza – which has killed over 31,000 Palestinians, the majority women and children.
According to Israeli news outlet I24, the US plan to build a temporary port on the shores of Gaza – allegedly aimed at facilitating greater amounts of aid into the strip – came about as a result of UAE pressure.
“UAE pressure on the US administration led to the recent announcement by President Joe Biden regarding plans to construct a port for humanitarian aid entry into Gaza,” Israeli news site I24 reported on 10 March, citing exclusive sources.
The sources claimed that the UAE introduced the plan in response to the severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza and Tel Aviv’s continued obstruction of aid efforts. The sources added that the Emiratis threatened to suspend work on a land route designed to bring goods into Israel via the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan.
They also said that Israeli President Isaac Herzog tried to mediate between Benjamin Netanyahu and Emirati leadership during his last visit to the Gulf state in November 2023 but failed, as UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed (MbZ) “refused to engage in dialogue” with the prime minister.
The UAE has condemned Israel’s actions in Gaza, as well as its plans to continue expanding illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.
However, the Gulf Arab state is unlikely to suspend its normalization agreement with Tel Aviv.
“The UAE believes that diplomatic and political communications are important in difficult times such as those we are witnessing,” the Emirati government said in a written statement to The New York Times on 10 March.
