Seldom can one read on the Hebrew media about strategic issues related to the State of Israel. Dimona appears from time to time, but it is not – for various reasons – of top strategic relevance; mainly because Israel cannot use its nuclear weapons. In sharp contrast, fuel is strategic. The army cannot move without it. Airplanes cannot leave the island-state without it. The brave Zionist leaders won’t be able to run away into the welcoming arms of the American Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea, the day Israel is attacked. On May 6, 2011, it was reported that for the last two weeks Israeli authorities are investigating a contamination of the state fuel reserves. The contamination is so severe, that commercial air traffic out of Israel was shut down on Thursday after airplane fuel at Ben-Gurion International Airport was found to be contaminated. From 1 PM all flights out of the country were halted, stranding tens of thousands of passengers. As a first response, Israel sent emergency trucks from Pi Glilot to the airport and fueled up departing airplanes with just enough fuel to reach Cyprus and Jordan, where they purchased clean fuel. The contaminated fuel contains unidentified greasy liquid parts that get stuck in the filter of gas pipelines, damaging the tank of the vehicle. The contaminated fuel was seen in recent weeks also in buses and trucks across Israel, TheMarker reported. Regular supply of fuel in Israel is the responsibility of the National Infrastructure Ministry, while supplying fuel during times of national emergency is delegated to the Defense Ministry. The Israel Air Force uses fuel supplies that are entirely separate from the sources used in the civil aviation sector; following the incident, the IAF said its fuel supplies have been confirmed to be free of contaminants. The widespread contamination – across platforms, affecting planes and vehicles! – hints the problem is at a very basic part of the system. This is not the first time Israel gets in troubles due to its fuel reserves. The most famous – and public – reservoir is Pi Glilot - the Mouth of Glilot. Do you recognize the name “Glilot?” It’s the junction between Tel Aviv and Hertzelyia, where the Mossad Headquarters are located. In the Gulf War of 1991, Saddam Hussein managed to almost destroy Pi Glilot and the Mossad at several opportunities. The junction was one of the main targets of his scud missiles. Their being conventional missiles didn’t change a thing; there was enough fuel and liquefied gas there to blow up half of Tel Aviv. At the time, I was nearby, at the Green Village  .
The reaction of the Israeli Administration to the recent contamination was unusual. The Biological Institute in Nes Tziona was summoned to take samples at a fuel terminal in Israel's central region. This is the same institution which developed the biological weapon used in the attempted assassination of Khaled Mashal. Odd choice, to say the least. Moreover, shortly after, the Ben-Gurion Airport manager Shmuel Kandel said that the cause of the contamination was not sabotage or terrorism. In other words, Israel knows the reason but is not publicizing it. Israel has a complex system that ensures it has sufficient fuel for the first x days (top secret datum) of a war along all its fronts. Since fuel gets damaged if stored for long periods of time, there is a recycling process for the emergency fuel. That means most of the fuel consumed by Israeli vehicles arrived at the pumps after spending some time at the emergency reserves. If the contamination originated in the emergency tanks or at the refineries, then that would explain the widespread event. But why would such a simple product get contaminated? Israel plays games. There are at least two possible sources for a contamination. The first is called “delek adom” (“red fuel” in Hebrew; Delek – fuel – is also the name of a major local energy company). The IDF fuel gets a red-ink added to it so that IDF personnel wouldn’t be able to steal fuel into the civilian market (there is no trust in the Israeli society, and for good reasons, after all they claim being descendants of Jacob). Another point of possible contamination is related to the Israeli chemical weapons industry, which officially doesn’t exist. Amines are precursors to chemical weapons, especially one called TEA (tri-ethanol amine, often called as the drink “tea”). Amines (MEA, DEA and TEA) are also used in oil refineries. Nobody can buy TEA without a good justification, like refining oil. Israel buys it often from Dow Chemical, after providing letters of intentions regarding the use; Dow knows the letters are insincere. The main user is the Haifa Oil Refineries; from there part of the amines is diverted for the production of illegitimate weapons. Got something messed up in the refinery pipes and caused the contamination? The widespread event (it couldn’t be silenced as these things always are!) and the involvement of the Biological Institute – located near The Weizmann Institute of Science and controlled directly by the Ministry of Defense – make this the most probable option.Probably we’ll never know exactly what did happen there; the flights would be renewed as fast as possible at all costs and the topic would be dropped from the news. Pretty soon, all would be forgotten. Even the Zionist leaders will quickly forget the lesson they got: you play with fire, you get burn. |
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