Tel Aviv could likely withdraw a lawsuit it had brought against Cairo over a halt in Egypt’s natural gas supply to the Israel.
“Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) may withdraw a US$4.2 billion lawsuit that it filed against Egyptian government gas companies for halting the gas-flow to Israel,” Israeli business daily Globes, reported on Monday, pointing to possible pressures from the Israeli government to abandon the litigation.
A Paris court started in 2013 to handle the IEC case against Egypt’s national natural gas companies over the halt in supplies pumped through a Sinai pipeline that has endured more than bombings since the 2011 uprising against former President Hosni Mubarak.
“The withdrawal of the mega-claim would eliminate the chances that Israeli consumers will receive any compensation for the 30 percent increase in their electric bills between 2011 and 2014,” Globes explained.
Egypt and Israel signed the gas export deal in 2005 under Mubarak. Calls for rescinding the agreement surged intensively following the former leader’s ouster.
Mubarak was acquitted last month of charges of corruption related to the export agreement.
