Netanyahu, Cabel battle over natural gas outline

Zionist Camp member Eitan Cabel was selected June 1 to chair the much-coveted Knesset Economic Affairs Committee, beating the former chair of his own party, Shelly Yachimovich, in a secret ballot by the faction. In addition to being a demonstration of his political clout, the victory awarded Cabel the chairmanship of one of the Knesset’s most important committees in terms of economic reforms. Chief among such issues will be the one concerning the country’s vast and rich natural gas deposits discovered offshore.

For a few years now, the government has been negotiating the development and distribution of these resources and earnings with gas companies. The topic remains a constant on Israel's public agenda, which will bring Cabel media prominence and a chance to influence the final outline of a gas deal.

Cabel believes that the current proposed deal runs counter to the public interest and could very well strengthen the monopoly of the gas companies, so he is prepared to wholeheartedly engage in the battle. He plans to raise an open public debate on the gas deal through his committee and told Al-Monitor that the deal ultimately approved will be entirely different and better for the public compared to the one the government has recently tried to stealthily pass.

In partisan politics, Cabel is considered a close associate of Isaac Herzog, leader of the Zionist Camp, which also incorporates the Labor Party. As such, Cabel is trying to have the Labor's constitution amended. The current constitution stipulates that in case of failing to win an election, the party must hold primary elections within 14 months. Cabel is hoping to postpone the primary to provide Herzog with the quiet needed to prepare the party for the possibility of new parliamentarian elections, which could suddenly arise, given that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s 61-member government is only one member shy of falling.