Jordanians condemns prospective gas deal with Israel

Hundreds of Jordanians took to the streets of Amman on Friday to condemn the prospective Jordanian-Israeli gas deal, describing it as a kind of “free normalisation with the enemy.”

The protesters demanded the annulment of the Wadi ‘Araba Peace Treaty, which was signed by Jordan and Israeli in 1994.

Anadolu news agency said that the protesters held posters reading: “Gas deal is tyranny… No to economic occupation… Gas deal means occupation of Amman.”

On 10 December, the Jordanian parliament voted overwhelmingly against the deal according to which Israel will secure natural gas for Jordan starting from 2017. The parliament demanded the government to search for other sources for gas supplies.

Prior to the parliament vote, a broad coalition of professional associations handed a petition signed by thousands of workers to the Jordanian PM calling for the cancellation of the deal.

In September, American Noble Energy, which is franchised to extract gas from the Israeli gas field, announced it had signed an agreement with the Jordanian government to supply it with gas worth $15 billion.

On its part, the Jordanian Minister of Energy Mohamed Hamed said that the Jordanian-Israeli gas deal does not jeopardise the country’s economy or threaten its future.