There is very little in this for the state just for the oil company that get most the money from this. There is only 6.5 barrels which is nothing, thats at best 1-2 months of Israels total fuel need and at current prices worth less than $1 billion. They also dont take 6.5 million barrels out of the ground in one go it happens over a number of years so anything the state will make out of this venture will be minimal and it wont have a noticable effect on the economy. If the amount of oil was significant then it would be the right thing to allow carfull drilling but for the sake of 6.5 million barrels is it worth damaging the enviroment, that oil would be better left in the ground for use by the state in an emergency not pumped out for less than $1 billion.

If there's oil, it should stay underground and never be heard again.

The mistake: when israel returned the oil fields in the Sinai, (that they had developed) to Egypt. The environmental groups which are usually leftist in just about everything, don't care one iota about Israel's independence (from the Arabs or Mexico), or outrageous prices for oil. They care about their darn sand dunes, and a few flowers indiginous to the desert., perhaps a few desert rats. In effect, they are the rats, depriving Israel of much needed energy. Typically, everything in Israel is controversial..devils on every wall. To Israel: do what's good for you and your people, and dismiss the few nutheads.

Israel consumes almost 2 million barrels of oil per week.

GO FOR IT ISRAEL!.

Israel consumes about 250,000 barrels of oil a day, 6.5 million would not even last two months, given that it would take years to pump it all out of the ground we are talking about supplying about 2% of Israel’s oil needs over the next decade, and that is even if that much oil is found or any at all. This is simply not worth it; the government should say no and put its resources into electric cars and alternative energy to power them. That would do a lot more for energy independence.

well. The Ethiopian Rattlesnake is so endangered that it would be a travesty to supply some oil, so that a human could heat their house...... rather than disturbing a reptile's rat hole out in the desert. Environmentalist's.....bent on human destruction.....so the ants and maggots have food for their colonies. Tree huggers worship tree's and hate humans. We need more running the country.....then we can all lay down and starve to death.

Maybe the country of Israel ought to just stop pumping water to people's homes to drink and bath with. The Kinneret doesn't have that much water left. Why bother pumping any of it to Israeli citizens. It just isn't financially viable anymore. It's not going to bring that much wealth to Israel if you do pump it. Just leave what's left of the water in the lake. If the argument works for oil........just use it on everything else we consume. Sit around a bunch of rocks and starve.

We have it ALLL down here.

You have stolen everything else why not steal whats under the ground as well.

And then continue to ireland

Read the 'Balfour Declaration' before you shoot your mouth off

I am very much against this. I think for many of us that the Judean Desert is far more important than the Temple Mount. Why do we have a National Parks and Nature Reserves Commission ? Is it just to give permission to people to destroy what little natural beauty there is left in this once stunningly beautiful country of ours.

What a complete,inappropriate language, now representing the drilling concern. how did he ever hold his former position. Wha a pathetic remark "after all its not th Temple Mount". The Kinneret, the Dead Sea and now the Judean Desert is to be hacked up for profit. what will be left for future generations?

Israel will probably lead the way. Oil is fast being depleted and all new energy sources will also change the balance of power from maniacs w/ oil to cooler heads w/ better more efficient fuels. If America switches to 'switch grass' or other free sources of alternative fuels the muslims will lose all power and cash. My my, what ever will they do then?

Duh? we would use alternative energy sources just like you would?