MKs on high seas check security layout at gas rig

Members of Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Sub-committee set sail to rig 24 km off Gaza coast. MK Hanegbi says country must be prepared for option that gas lines will be targeted in terror attack

Roni Sofer|Published: 09.07.10 , 19:06

Members of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Sub-committee sailed to the high seas on Thursday in order to examine the security arrangements on the natural gas rig "Yam Thetis," which is located 24 km (about 15 miles) off the coast of the Gaza Strip.

The Knesset members, lead by Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman MK Tzachi Hanegbi (Kadima), toured the site in order to see up close the quality of the gas facility in light of the increased threat of terrorist attacks on the backdrop of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and the armament of terrorist organizations with more accurate weaponry than they had access to in the past.

The committee members arrived on the site after two hours of sailing. Once there, they were hoisted onto the deck of the rig, which sits 42 meters (yards) above sea level in a bucket lifted by a massive crane.

Knesset members Tzachi Hanegbi, Ronnie Bar-On, Avi Dicther, and Otniel Schneller of Kadima and Amir Peretz of Labor participated in the tour.

At the end of the tour, Hanegbi said that the committee was quite impressed by the significant efforts the rig's operators are investing in defending it from external attack, both on a daily basis and in times of emergency.

Hanegbi emphasized that the more Israel succeeds in decreasing its dependence on external gas sources, it must become increasingly prepared that its strategic energy infrastructure will be preferred targets of terrorist attacks.