Amidror: “In the Middle of a Historic Change”

Maj. Gen. (Res.) Yaakov Amidror Spoke at the Energy, Defense and Strategy (EDS) Conference initiated by Israel Defense magazine. Amidror claimed there is a direct link between the changes in the energy market and the security situation and new world order

Amidror: “In the Middle of a Historic Change”

“The changes in the energy market greatly influence the regional situation and the security in the Middle East ", said Maj. Gen. (Res.) Yaakov Amidror, in his debut appearance since leaving his position as Head of the National Security Council last month. Amidror delivered a speech at the first international Energy and Defense Conference initiated by Israel Defense and the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, in cooperation with the University of Calgary, the Technion and the Israeli Institute of Energy and Environment.

Amidror additionally said that there is a direct connection between the changes in the energy market and the new world order and security situation. He claims there is a massive change in the energy market around the world. "The center of gravity moves east and especially towards China, and the issue of how to shift the weight from the old world to the new is yet not clear”, said Amidror. “In addition, there is currently enough energy in Northern Europe and Brazil to supply the needs of North America. We see propulsion of energy in that area and the need for energy originated from the Middle East is dropping. This is a factor that will have an effect", he added.

He claims the full implications of the new situation are not yet clear, but he defines it as a “historic change”. Amidror linked the relations between Europe and Russia to the decrease in the dependence on Russian gas. He additionally argues that changes in the Middle East are also extremely important. “Egypt has shifted from being a gas exporter to an importer, Turkey needs to import oil, and in addition it cannot be forgotten that Israel has gas fields that should begin to bear fruit for export within a few months or years”.  Amidror added that "we need to decide where to export to. It is better for us to connect our neighbors to the gas network, but we have to make important decisions on how Israel should export the gas, and these decisions have not yet been made. Israel does not have to be entirely dependent on its gas for power generation”. The former Head of National Security Council also addressed the technological aspects related to the protection of gas fields and the continuity of its supply.

The conference chairman was Professor Uzi Arad. The conference was sponsored by the IAI and Dorad. Over 200 senior executives in the defense and energy industries attended the conference held at Dan Accadia Hotel.

The full statement of Maj. Gen. (Res.) Yaakov Amidror will be published in the 17th Israel Defense magazine, to be published in coming days.

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