4 Mar 2021
Israeli Environmental Minister on Thursday accused Iran of being behind a major oil spill off the Mediterranean coast that caused the largest environmental disaster in Israel’s history, saying it was an act of “environmental terrorism.”
The spill, which resulted in the closure of all beaches along Israel’s coastline and caused catastrophic damage to marine life, was traced to a Libyan ship carrying Iranian oil.
The Environmental Protection Ministry on Thursday released photos of the Libyan-owned
Emerald showing the vessel anchored off Iran’s Kharg Island in January.
In a statement, the ministry said the
Emerald was smuggling 112,000 tons of crude oil from Iran to Syria at the time of the spill. The ship has since returned to Iran.
According to
Haaretz, after Gamliel’s press conference, officials at the Environmental Protection Ministry said that there’s a high probability this isn’t a terror [incident].
Israel’s
Channel 13 reported that
Israel’s military establishment does not share this assessment. The network said it was shocking that neither the Mossad intelligence agency nor the Israeli military was involved in Gamliel’s investigation.
To review, this is the worst oil spill to ever impact Israel and Gaza s Mediterranean coastline:
For the past two weeks, tons of crude oil have washed ashore on Israel and Lebanon s beaches destroying wildlife and causing ecological damage that could take years to restore, according to environmental experts. But after the minister directly accused Iran of a complex operation to drop the oil offshore, the issue took on a new dimension as fears in Washington ands Europe rose over the possibility of an Israeli response.
Intelligence apparatuses reportedly now investigating matter; Greenpeace says 'outrageous and factually baseless' claim of terrorism minimizes environmental issue Israel's security establishment is investigating the alleged Iranian link to the.
Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel s diplomatic reporter
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and Environmental Protection Minister Gila Gamliel walk on Ashdod beach on February 21, 2021, after an offshore oil spill caused damage along Israel s Mediterranean coast (Kobi Gideon / GPO)
As last month’s oil spill continues to do damage to Israel’s territorial waters and beaches, Environmental Protection Minister Gila Gamliel is doing damage to herself, to the prime minister and to Israel’s efforts to contain Iran, with her ongoing accusations that Tehran deliberately engineered the incident.
Pressed Thursday night during an interview with Channel 12 to provide evidence to back up her repeated claims that last month’s spill, which polluted most of Israel’s Mediterranean coastline with hundreds of tons of tar, was an act of “environmental terror” by Iran, Gamliel offered only circumstantial evidence regarding the ship and the damage it caused.