Ισραηλινός επίσημος δήλωσε σε ομάδα Κυπρίων δημοσιογράφων, που επισκέπτονται το Ισραήλ, ότι η κυβέρνηση της χώρας θεωρεί ως «εξαιρετικής σημασίας» την επίσκεψη του Προέδρου Χριστόφια στα Ιεροσόλυμα, τη μεθεπόμενη εβδομάδα.
Όπως μετέδωσε απεσταλμένος του Ραδιοφωνικού Ιδρύματος Κύπρου, ανώτερος κυβερνητικός αξιωματούχος δήλωσε στους Κύπριους δημοσιογράφους ότι η επίσκεψη θα δώσει το μήνυμα ότι στις σχέσεις Κύπρου - Ισραήλ έχει ανοίξει μια νέα σελίδα.
«Θα δημιουργήσει το πλαίσιο για να αναπτυχθούν νέες συνεργασίες ειδικά στον ιδιωτικό τομέα», είπε ο Ισραηλινός επίσημος.
Η ίδια πηγή σημείωσε ότι το όραμα του Ισραήλ είναι η Κύπρος να αποτελέσει τη γέφυρα μιας ευρύτερης συνεργασίας που θα εμπλέκει επίσης την Ελλάδα και τα Βαλκάνια και ότι αυτό υποστηρίζεται από όλη την ισραηλινή κοινωνία.
Στο πλαίσιο αυτό δεν αποκλείεται -αν αποδειχθεί από μελέτες ότι είναι οικονομικά βιώσιμο εγχείρημα- να ενταχθεί και η δημιουργία αγωγού φυσικού αερίου, που θα συνδέσει πιθανά νέα κοιτάσματα του Ισραήλ και της Κύπρου με την Ευρώπη.
Η ίδια κυβερνητική πηγή του Ισραήλ ανέφερε, επίσης, ότι ο υπουργός Εξωτερικών 'Αβιγκτορ Λίπερμαν κατά το τελευταίο διάστημα έχει, τουλάχιστο μια φορά την εβδομάδα, τηλεφωνική επικοινωνία τόσο με τον Κύπριο ομόλογο του όσο και με τον Υπουργό Εξωτερικών της Ελλάδας, Δημήτρη Δρούτσα.
Israel Greece Friendship Association
Πέμπτη 3 Μαρτίου 2011
Πέμπτη 3 Φεβρουαρίου 2011
Israel ponders border security, enlarged military amid Egypt unrest
By Janine Zacharia
Washington Post Staff Writer
JERUSALEM - Israelis are looking fearfully beyond the end of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's rule, expecting it will force them to stiffen security across an extensive southwestern border and perhaps reoccupy a strategic corridor between Egypt and the Gaza Strip.
In the long term, it may require Israel to expand its military force and budget if a new Egyptian government comes under the sway of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, or otherwise casts into doubt the long-standing peace accord between the two nations.
Israel has relied for three decades on the assumption that it would never again fight a land war against the Arab world's most populous state, or worry about Egypt openly supporting militants in the Gaza Strip or elsewhere.
Many Israelis are now convinced that the Islamist group will play a greater role in whatever government emerges in Egypt, and that their country needs to prepare for anything from a cutoff of natural gas shipments from Egypt to increased arms smuggling into the Gaza Strip. The Muslim Brotherhood opposes Egypt's peace treaty with Israel and is the inspiration for the Palestinian group Hamas, which controls Gaza and rejects Israel's existence.
Even before Mubarak's regime began to crumble, Israelis complained about weapons being smuggled across the poorly secured eight-mile-long Egypt-Gaza border. Now, security experts said it was likely that if Mubarak falls, Israel may have to retake control of what is known as the Philadelphia Corridor, from which Israel withdrew in 2005.
In December, Israel approved construction of a fence along its southwestern border with Egypt to block infiltrators, mostly African laborers seeking work. Former military and intelligence officials said overall border security measures in that area would probably need to be expanded.
Sixty-five percent of Israelis said Mubarak's fall would be bad for Israel, according to a poll published in the daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth on Thursday. Only 11 percent thought the results would be positive for Israel. Likewise, a majority - 59 percent - said a Muslim regime was more likely to emerge in Egypt, compared with only 21 percent who said the government would remain secular.
Israeli defense experts are already discussing whether the army is large enough to confront what could become a new threat.
"For more than two decades, the structure of the Israeli forces was based on the assumption that Egypt is in no way a potential threat to Israel,'' said Ephraim Sneh, a former Israeli deputy defense minister. "I don't say that today Egypt is a threat. But what's happening there may change the status of Egypt vis-a-vis Israel as far as strategic balance is concerned. And that's why Israel will have to change the structure of all of its forces."
After Israel signed the 1979 peace treaty with Egypt, its defense budget dropped from 30 percent of its gross national product to 7 percent, according to Giora Eiland, a former Israeli national security adviser and former head of the army's planning branch.
While Eiland saw no doubt Israel would expand its defense budget as a result of developments in Egypt, he said the change in leadership could also impact Israel's ability to act regionally.
"In the past 30 years, Israel could take almost for granted that no matter what happens between Israel and the Palestinians, Israel and Hezbollah, Israel and Syria, Egypt would not act militarily'' against Israel, Eiland said. Israel was able as a result "to take some risks'' in terms of the size of its force, he added.
The Israel Defense Forces does not make public the size of its force. But according to Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies, an independent research institution, Israel maintains a standing army of 176,500 soldiers and 445,000 reservists.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/03/AR2011020305929.html
Washington Post Staff Writer
JERUSALEM - Israelis are looking fearfully beyond the end of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's rule, expecting it will force them to stiffen security across an extensive southwestern border and perhaps reoccupy a strategic corridor between Egypt and the Gaza Strip.
In the long term, it may require Israel to expand its military force and budget if a new Egyptian government comes under the sway of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, or otherwise casts into doubt the long-standing peace accord between the two nations.
Israel has relied for three decades on the assumption that it would never again fight a land war against the Arab world's most populous state, or worry about Egypt openly supporting militants in the Gaza Strip or elsewhere.
Many Israelis are now convinced that the Islamist group will play a greater role in whatever government emerges in Egypt, and that their country needs to prepare for anything from a cutoff of natural gas shipments from Egypt to increased arms smuggling into the Gaza Strip. The Muslim Brotherhood opposes Egypt's peace treaty with Israel and is the inspiration for the Palestinian group Hamas, which controls Gaza and rejects Israel's existence.
Even before Mubarak's regime began to crumble, Israelis complained about weapons being smuggled across the poorly secured eight-mile-long Egypt-Gaza border. Now, security experts said it was likely that if Mubarak falls, Israel may have to retake control of what is known as the Philadelphia Corridor, from which Israel withdrew in 2005.
In December, Israel approved construction of a fence along its southwestern border with Egypt to block infiltrators, mostly African laborers seeking work. Former military and intelligence officials said overall border security measures in that area would probably need to be expanded.
Sixty-five percent of Israelis said Mubarak's fall would be bad for Israel, according to a poll published in the daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth on Thursday. Only 11 percent thought the results would be positive for Israel. Likewise, a majority - 59 percent - said a Muslim regime was more likely to emerge in Egypt, compared with only 21 percent who said the government would remain secular.
Israeli defense experts are already discussing whether the army is large enough to confront what could become a new threat.
"For more than two decades, the structure of the Israeli forces was based on the assumption that Egypt is in no way a potential threat to Israel,'' said Ephraim Sneh, a former Israeli deputy defense minister. "I don't say that today Egypt is a threat. But what's happening there may change the status of Egypt vis-a-vis Israel as far as strategic balance is concerned. And that's why Israel will have to change the structure of all of its forces."
After Israel signed the 1979 peace treaty with Egypt, its defense budget dropped from 30 percent of its gross national product to 7 percent, according to Giora Eiland, a former Israeli national security adviser and former head of the army's planning branch.
While Eiland saw no doubt Israel would expand its defense budget as a result of developments in Egypt, he said the change in leadership could also impact Israel's ability to act regionally.
"In the past 30 years, Israel could take almost for granted that no matter what happens between Israel and the Palestinians, Israel and Hezbollah, Israel and Syria, Egypt would not act militarily'' against Israel, Eiland said. Israel was able as a result "to take some risks'' in terms of the size of its force, he added.
The Israel Defense Forces does not make public the size of its force. But according to Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies, an independent research institution, Israel maintains a standing army of 176,500 soldiers and 445,000 reservists.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/03/AR2011020305929.html
Τρίτη 4 Ιανουαρίου 2011
Κύπρος: Κοντά στις 2.000 οι εκκρεμείς υποθέσεις αγνοουμένων
Σε εκκρεμότητα βρίσκονται 1.970 υποθέσεις αγνοούμενων Ελληνοκυπρίων δήλωσε σήμερα ο Ξενοφώντας Καλλής από την Διευρευνητική Επιτροπή για τους Αγνοούμενους (ΔΕΑ).
«Πρόκειται για τεράστιο αριθμό» σχολίασε ο ίδιος. «Κανείς δεν μπορεί να είναι ικανοποιημένος από την πορεία των ερευνών» δήλωσε στον κυπριακό τηλεοπτικό σταθμό ΡΙΚ o Ξ. Κάλλης, βοηθός του εκπροσώπου της ελληνοκυπριακής πλευράς στη ΔΕΑ. Σύμφωνα με τον ίδιο η έλλειψη χρημάτων δεν είναι το βασικό πρόβλημα που καθυστερεί τις έρευνες αλλά «άλλοι λόγοι».
Όπως ανέφερε ο Ξ. Κάλλης αυτή τη στιγμή πραγματοποιούνται εκσκαφές στον Πενταδάκτυλο και την Καρπασία καθώς και σε ελεύθερες περιοχές της Κύπρου με σκοπό τον εντοπισμό οστών αγνοούμενων Ελληνοκυπρίων και Τουρκοκυπρίων αντίστοιχα.
Σύμφωνα με τον ίδιο από το 2005 έως σήμερα έχουν ταυτοποηθεί και παραδοθεί στις οικογένειες τους τα λείψανα ή μέρος αυτών, 170 Ελληνοκυπρίων αγνοουμένων, 39 πεσόντων και 54 Τουρκοκυπρίων αγνοουμένων.
«Πρόκειται για τεράστιο αριθμό» σχολίασε ο ίδιος. «Κανείς δεν μπορεί να είναι ικανοποιημένος από την πορεία των ερευνών» δήλωσε στον κυπριακό τηλεοπτικό σταθμό ΡΙΚ o Ξ. Κάλλης, βοηθός του εκπροσώπου της ελληνοκυπριακής πλευράς στη ΔΕΑ. Σύμφωνα με τον ίδιο η έλλειψη χρημάτων δεν είναι το βασικό πρόβλημα που καθυστερεί τις έρευνες αλλά «άλλοι λόγοι».
Όπως ανέφερε ο Ξ. Κάλλης αυτή τη στιγμή πραγματοποιούνται εκσκαφές στον Πενταδάκτυλο και την Καρπασία καθώς και σε ελεύθερες περιοχές της Κύπρου με σκοπό τον εντοπισμό οστών αγνοούμενων Ελληνοκυπρίων και Τουρκοκυπρίων αντίστοιχα.
Σύμφωνα με τον ίδιο από το 2005 έως σήμερα έχουν ταυτοποηθεί και παραδοθεί στις οικογένειες τους τα λείψανα ή μέρος αυτών, 170 Ελληνοκυπρίων αγνοουμένων, 39 πεσόντων και 54 Τουρκοκυπρίων αγνοουμένων.
Israel and its natural resources
Israel has struck gas—lots of it. Deep-sea wells off the north of the country should soon supply all the country’s own gas needs, and much more is in prospect for export. But such bonanzas inevitably bring headaches.
Η ΑΝΑΚΑΛΥΨΗ ΑΠΟ ΤΟ ΙΣΡΑΗΛ ΝΕΩΝ ΚΟΙΤΑΣΜΑΤΩΝ ΦΥΣΙΚΟΥ ΑΕΡΙΟΥ, ΜΠΟΡΕΙ ΝΑ ΕΠΙΔΡΑΣΕΙ ΣΤΙΣ ΣΤΡΑΤΗΓΙΚΕΣ ΤΟΥ ΦΙΛΙΕΣ. ,
Το Ισραήλ «κτύπησε» φυσικό αέριο και μάλιστα σε μεγάλες ποσότητες. Θαλάσσιες γεωτρήσεις μεγάλου βάθους στα βόρια της χώρας θα μπορέσουν να καλύψουν σύντομα τις ανάγκες του Ισραήλ με προοπτική και εξαγωγών. Αλλά βέβαια αυτή η καλή τύχη προκαλεί και πονοκεφάλους.
Ένταση δημιουργείται με τον γειτονικό Λίβανο για την χάραξη θαλάσσιων συνόρων. Μια μεγάλη μάχη έχει αρχίσει στο Ισραήλ σχετικά με τα “royalties”.
Η ανακάλυψη του κοιτάσματος θα μπορούσε να έχει στρατηγικές επιπτώσεις ειδικά εάν ένας υποθαλάσσιος αγωγός θα μπορούσε να συνδεθεί με την Ελλάδα, όπου οι σχέσεις της με το Ισραήλ έχουν αναθερμανθεί καθώς η Τουρκία προσανατολίζεται στην υποβάθμιση των σχέσεων της με το Εβραϊκό κράτος.
Το κοίτασμα Tamar που ανακαλύφθηκε πέρυσι, θεωρείται η μεγαλύτερη ανακάλυψη φυσικού αερίου το 2009. Μαζί με ένα άλλο κοίτασμα,το Leviathan, θα μπορούσαν να παράγουν φυσικό αέριο αξίας $4 δις ανά έτος.
Το Tamar θα μπορούσε να καλύψει τις οικιακές και βιομηχανικές ανάγκες του Ισραήλ σε φυσικό αέριο για τα επόμενα 20 χρόνια. Τα αποθέματα του Leviathan θα μπορούσαν να εξαχθούν.
Εδώ υπεισέρχεται και η Ελλάδα. Οι δύο χώρες, με ψυχρές σχέσεις κατά το παρελθόν, αιφνιδίως έγιναν επιστήθιοι φίλιοι. Ισραηλινά πολεμικά αεροπλάνα, τα οποία δεν είναι αποδεκτά στους Τούρκικους αιθέρες, τώρα εκπαιδεύονται πάνω απο την Ελλάδα σε συνεργασία με την Ελληνική Πολεμική Αεροπορία.
Οι πρωθυπουργοί των δύο χωρών, ο Benyamin Netanyahu, ένα αρχι-καπιταλιστής και ο Γιώργος Παπανδρέου ένας σοσιαλιστής, αντήλλαξαν φιλικές επισκέψεις. Ισραηλινοί επιχειρηματίες και τουρίστες οι οποίοι προηγουμένως κατέκλυζαν την Τουρκία τώρα κατευθύνονται πρός την Ελλάδα.
Το Ισραήλ αποβλέπει στην Ελλάδα όχι μόνο σαν ένα αγοραστή φυσικού αερίου αλλά και σαν ένα κέντρο για την προώθηση του αερίου στην Ευρώπη. Η Ελλάδα δεν θα υπογράψει για τον αγωγό εάν προηγουμένως το Ισραήλ δεν έχει προηγουμένως συμφωνήσει με τον Λίβανο και την Κύπρο για την χάραξη των θαλάσσιων συνόρων.
( ΤΟ ΠΛΗΡΕΣ ΑΡΘΡΟ ΣΤΗΝ ΙΣΤΟΣΕΛΙΔΑ : www.economist.com/node/17468208/ ).
Tension with next-door Lebanon over demarcating the maritime border is rising. A big battle has begun in Israel over royalties, with some demanding a sovereign-wealth fund when the money starts flowing. There is excitement and volatility on the Tel Aviv stock exchange, where the government has moved belatedly to curb heady trading in drilling licences.
The find could also have far-reaching strategic consequences, especially if a pipeline is laid across the seabed to Greece, where relations with Israel have been noticeably warming as Turkey moves to shut down its longstanding alliance with the Jewish state.
For decades Israel drilled for oil with scant success. But in 1999 a maritime drill struck gas in commercial quantities just 250 metres beneath the Mediterranean, 40km (25 miles) out from Israel’s southern port of Ashdod. Production began in 2004 at what is called the Mari-B, and some 2.8 billion cubic metres of gas are piped ashore each year from reserves that may be as large as 22 bcm.
But that is a mere bubble compared with the Tamar field discovered last year, also in the Mediterranean, 90km off the northern end of Israel’s coast. Tamar, where the gas is much deeper down, holds 238 bcm. Production, by a consortium led by the same Israeli and American partners who own Mari-B, is to begin in 2014. Tamar was the world’s largest gas find in 2009.
But it, too, may be dwarfed by another find by the same consortium, 45km farther out to sea. Noble Energy, the consortium’s American part, says this field, called Leviathan, has a potential of 453 bcm and an even chance of “geological success”. An exploratory drill is under way. The results should be known early next year. If good, production could begin by 2016.
The two fields could provide gas worth $4 billion a year. As Israel’s energy bill is $10 billion—more than 5% of GDP—the gas would sharply improve the country’s trade balance. Indeed, Tamar should supply all Israel’s domestic gas needs, both for industry and household consumers, for at least 20 years. Leviathan’s reserves should be available for export.
This is where Greece may come in. The two countries, cold and distant in the past, have suddenly become bosom friends. Israeli military aircraft, no longer welcome in Turkish skies, are training over Greece in concert with the Greek air force. The two prime ministers, Binyamin Netanyahu, an arch-capitalist, and George Papandreou, a socialist scion, have exchanged cosy visits. Israeli businessmen and tourists who once flocked to Turkey are switching to Greece. Recent diplomatic talks in Jerusalem included a session with Israel’s petroleum commissioner. Israel sees Greece not only as a gas purchaser but also as a European hub from which Israeli gas could be sold and piped on.
But Greece may not sign on the dotted line until Israel has agreed with Lebanon and Cyprus on where a border is to be drawn in the sea, demarcating each country’s economic exclusion zone. Israeli and Lebanese ministers have already traded accusations and threats. Tension has risen since Iran began offering to help develop Lebanon’s share of the undersea wealth.
The Israelis say they are close to agreeing with Cyprus on a “median line” to let them share some of the seabed between them; as economic exclusion zones generally extend 200 miles (322km) out to sea, there is an overlap. The Israelis then intend gingerly to approach Lebanon, though the two countries are formally in a state of war, in the hope eventually of holding a UN-backed international arbitration.
Meanwhile, the Israelis have run a string of buoys into the sea off the coastal border point between Israel and Lebanon. But the Lebanese say they are angled too far northward. The Israelis point out that Tamar and Leviathan (see map) are anyway well south of the line that Lebanon claims as the correct maritime one.
In any event, unlike Mari-B, where a derrick standing on the sea floor pumps up the oil, Tamar and Leviathan will present no target above the waterline for anti-Israeli guerrillas from outfits such as Hizbullah, the Lebanese Shia party-cum-militia. Nearly 2,000 metres deep, the wells will be installed and operated by robot-like machines capable of withstanding the intense underwater pressure.
The Palestinians, especially in Gaza, are watching developments twitchily. A decade or so ago, British Gas wanted to work with the Palestinian Authority to develop the Marine field off Gaza; most or all of the gas was to be sold to Israel. But Ariel Sharon, when he was Israel’s prime minister, vetoed the project, ostensibly on security grounds, and the field lies unexploited.
Back on land, a committee of experts appointed by the finance minister has recommended a steep rise in the government take on successful gas or oil finds. A series of tax breaks and low royalties would mean, the committee found, that Israeli citizens would do poorly out of their country’s natural resources by international standards. So the committee proposed progressive taxes on profits that could mean the government taking 66% of profits on flourishing gasfields. Oil and gas executives, apparently backed by the American administration, are complaining loudly. The offshore consortium has retained legions of lobbyists and public-relations people to make its case.
Lined up against them are civil-society campaigners such as Michael Melchior, who hailed the recommendations as “a significant step in the right direction”. As a former chief rabbi of Norway and later an Israeli politician linked to the Labour party, he is urging the government to follow Norway’s example by putting the state’s share of profits into a sovereign wealth fund and earmarking the income for social welfare. “A one-time chance,” he says, “to bring truly historic change to Israeli society.”
The find could also have far-reaching strategic consequences, especially if a pipeline is laid across the seabed to Greece, where relations with Israel have been noticeably warming as Turkey moves to shut down its longstanding alliance with the Jewish state.
For decades Israel drilled for oil with scant success. But in 1999 a maritime drill struck gas in commercial quantities just 250 metres beneath the Mediterranean, 40km (25 miles) out from Israel’s southern port of Ashdod. Production began in 2004 at what is called the Mari-B, and some 2.8 billion cubic metres of gas are piped ashore each year from reserves that may be as large as 22 bcm.
But that is a mere bubble compared with the Tamar field discovered last year, also in the Mediterranean, 90km off the northern end of Israel’s coast. Tamar, where the gas is much deeper down, holds 238 bcm. Production, by a consortium led by the same Israeli and American partners who own Mari-B, is to begin in 2014. Tamar was the world’s largest gas find in 2009.
But it, too, may be dwarfed by another find by the same consortium, 45km farther out to sea. Noble Energy, the consortium’s American part, says this field, called Leviathan, has a potential of 453 bcm and an even chance of “geological success”. An exploratory drill is under way. The results should be known early next year. If good, production could begin by 2016.
The two fields could provide gas worth $4 billion a year. As Israel’s energy bill is $10 billion—more than 5% of GDP—the gas would sharply improve the country’s trade balance. Indeed, Tamar should supply all Israel’s domestic gas needs, both for industry and household consumers, for at least 20 years. Leviathan’s reserves should be available for export.
This is where Greece may come in. The two countries, cold and distant in the past, have suddenly become bosom friends. Israeli military aircraft, no longer welcome in Turkish skies, are training over Greece in concert with the Greek air force. The two prime ministers, Binyamin Netanyahu, an arch-capitalist, and George Papandreou, a socialist scion, have exchanged cosy visits. Israeli businessmen and tourists who once flocked to Turkey are switching to Greece. Recent diplomatic talks in Jerusalem included a session with Israel’s petroleum commissioner. Israel sees Greece not only as a gas purchaser but also as a European hub from which Israeli gas could be sold and piped on.
But Greece may not sign on the dotted line until Israel has agreed with Lebanon and Cyprus on where a border is to be drawn in the sea, demarcating each country’s economic exclusion zone. Israeli and Lebanese ministers have already traded accusations and threats. Tension has risen since Iran began offering to help develop Lebanon’s share of the undersea wealth.
The Israelis say they are close to agreeing with Cyprus on a “median line” to let them share some of the seabed between them; as economic exclusion zones generally extend 200 miles (322km) out to sea, there is an overlap. The Israelis then intend gingerly to approach Lebanon, though the two countries are formally in a state of war, in the hope eventually of holding a UN-backed international arbitration.
In any event, unlike Mari-B, where a derrick standing on the sea floor pumps up the oil, Tamar and Leviathan will present no target above the waterline for anti-Israeli guerrillas from outfits such as Hizbullah, the Lebanese Shia party-cum-militia. Nearly 2,000 metres deep, the wells will be installed and operated by robot-like machines capable of withstanding the intense underwater pressure.
The Palestinians, especially in Gaza, are watching developments twitchily. A decade or so ago, British Gas wanted to work with the Palestinian Authority to develop the Marine field off Gaza; most or all of the gas was to be sold to Israel. But Ariel Sharon, when he was Israel’s prime minister, vetoed the project, ostensibly on security grounds, and the field lies unexploited.
A big bonus for poor Israelis?
Back on land, a committee of experts appointed by the finance minister has recommended a steep rise in the government take on successful gas or oil finds. A series of tax breaks and low royalties would mean, the committee found, that Israeli citizens would do poorly out of their country’s natural resources by international standards. So the committee proposed progressive taxes on profits that could mean the government taking 66% of profits on flourishing gasfields. Oil and gas executives, apparently backed by the American administration, are complaining loudly. The offshore consortium has retained legions of lobbyists and public-relations people to make its case.
Lined up against them are civil-society campaigners such as Michael Melchior, who hailed the recommendations as “a significant step in the right direction”. As a former chief rabbi of Norway and later an Israeli politician linked to the Labour party, he is urging the government to follow Norway’s example by putting the state’s share of profits into a sovereign wealth fund and earmarking the income for social welfare. “A one-time chance,” he says, “to bring truly historic change to Israeli society.”
from Middle East & Africa
Ελληνική Μετάφραση
ΤΟ ΙΣΡΑΗΛ ΚΑΙ ΟΙ ΦΥΣΙΚΟΙ ΤΟΥ ΠΟΡΟΙ.
Η ΑΝΑΚΑΛΥΨΗ ΑΠΟ ΤΟ ΙΣΡΑΗΛ ΝΕΩΝ ΚΟΙΤΑΣΜΑΤΩΝ ΦΥΣΙΚΟΥ ΑΕΡΙΟΥ, ΜΠΟΡΕΙ ΝΑ ΕΠΙΔΡΑΣΕΙ ΣΤΙΣ ΣΤΡΑΤΗΓΙΚΕΣ ΤΟΥ ΦΙΛΙΕΣ. ,
Το Ισραήλ «κτύπησε» φυσικό αέριο και μάλιστα σε μεγάλες ποσότητες. Θαλάσσιες γεωτρήσεις μεγάλου βάθους στα βόρια της χώρας θα μπορέσουν να καλύψουν σύντομα τις ανάγκες του Ισραήλ με προοπτική και εξαγωγών. Αλλά βέβαια αυτή η καλή τύχη προκαλεί και πονοκεφάλους.
Ένταση δημιουργείται με τον γειτονικό Λίβανο για την χάραξη θαλάσσιων συνόρων. Μια μεγάλη μάχη έχει αρχίσει στο Ισραήλ σχετικά με τα “royalties”.
Η ανακάλυψη του κοιτάσματος θα μπορούσε να έχει στρατηγικές επιπτώσεις ειδικά εάν ένας υποθαλάσσιος αγωγός θα μπορούσε να συνδεθεί με την Ελλάδα, όπου οι σχέσεις της με το Ισραήλ έχουν αναθερμανθεί καθώς η Τουρκία προσανατολίζεται στην υποβάθμιση των σχέσεων της με το Εβραϊκό κράτος.
Το κοίτασμα Tamar που ανακαλύφθηκε πέρυσι, θεωρείται η μεγαλύτερη ανακάλυψη φυσικού αερίου το 2009. Μαζί με ένα άλλο κοίτασμα,το Leviathan, θα μπορούσαν να παράγουν φυσικό αέριο αξίας $4 δις ανά έτος.
Το Tamar θα μπορούσε να καλύψει τις οικιακές και βιομηχανικές ανάγκες του Ισραήλ σε φυσικό αέριο για τα επόμενα 20 χρόνια. Τα αποθέματα του Leviathan θα μπορούσαν να εξαχθούν.
Εδώ υπεισέρχεται και η Ελλάδα. Οι δύο χώρες, με ψυχρές σχέσεις κατά το παρελθόν, αιφνιδίως έγιναν επιστήθιοι φίλιοι. Ισραηλινά πολεμικά αεροπλάνα, τα οποία δεν είναι αποδεκτά στους Τούρκικους αιθέρες, τώρα εκπαιδεύονται πάνω απο την Ελλάδα σε συνεργασία με την Ελληνική Πολεμική Αεροπορία.
Οι πρωθυπουργοί των δύο χωρών, ο Benyamin Netanyahu, ένα αρχι-καπιταλιστής και ο Γιώργος Παπανδρέου ένας σοσιαλιστής, αντήλλαξαν φιλικές επισκέψεις. Ισραηλινοί επιχειρηματίες και τουρίστες οι οποίοι προηγουμένως κατέκλυζαν την Τουρκία τώρα κατευθύνονται πρός την Ελλάδα.
Το Ισραήλ αποβλέπει στην Ελλάδα όχι μόνο σαν ένα αγοραστή φυσικού αερίου αλλά και σαν ένα κέντρο για την προώθηση του αερίου στην Ευρώπη. Η Ελλάδα δεν θα υπογράψει για τον αγωγό εάν προηγουμένως το Ισραήλ δεν έχει προηγουμένως συμφωνήσει με τον Λίβανο και την Κύπρο για την χάραξη των θαλάσσιων συνόρων.
( ΤΟ ΠΛΗΡΕΣ ΑΡΘΡΟ ΣΤΗΝ ΙΣΤΟΣΕΛΙΔΑ : www.economist.com/node/17468208/ ).
Σάββατο 18 Δεκεμβρίου 2010
Israel and Singapore to develop new nanomaterials
By Abigail Klein Leichman
Israeli scientists are collaborating with counterparts in Singapore to develop new nanomaterials to enhance the efficiency of existing energy and water management technologies.
The staff involved in the CREATE centers. From left to right: Prof Shlomo Magdassi, Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Dr Su Guaning, President of Nanyang Technological University; Teo Ming Kian, National Research Foundation (NRF); Dr Tony Tan, Chairman, NRF; Dr Francis Yeoh, CEO NRF; Prof Shankar Sastry, UC Berkeley; Prof Robert Marks, Ben Gurion University.
About 14 hours of fly time separate Singapore and Israel, yet the two countries have much in common. Two prominent Israeli academicians, Hebrew University (HU) of Jerusalem Prof. Shlomo Magdassi and Ben-Gurion University Prof Robert Marks, look forward to spending a year on this island republic off the Malay Peninsula, in the framework of a five-year collaboration.
Magdassi and Marks are partnering with Prof. Ma Jan of Singapore's Nanyang Technological University (NTU) to head up a new research center focusing on energy efficiency, as part of Singapore's National Research Foundation Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE) program.
Scientists from the three universities will work together to develop new nanomaterials to enhance the efficiency of existing energy and water management technologies.
"The idea is to advance basic research on applied orientation to create licensing startups," says Marks, a 49-year-old American-born biotechnology expert. "We'll be trying to create and commercialize new tools to help clean and monitor the water better, and to harvest better energy and conserve it."
Joint publications and intellectual property
The nanomaterials they will be synthesizing from inorganic materials such as carbon, gold and silver each possess properties that lend themselves to the realization of these goals. Nanomaterials are known to significantly improve efficiencies in energy harvesting and conservation as well as water recycling and sensing (using biosensors to monitor water for toxicity).
Applied chemistry professor Magdassi (56) says he and other HU researchers stand to gain much from the use of NTU's advanced facilities and the exposure to additional and complementary technologies developed by their Singaporean colleagues. He tells ISRAEL21c that in addition to joint publications, it is hoped that there will be joint intellectual property resulting from the collaboration.
"It's difficult to say when and if IP might come out of this, but since we're 12th in the world in generating patents and making revenue from patents, it's safe to say that it is likely to take place," adds HU vice president for R&D Prof. Shai Arkin, who has been involved in initial planning with the National Research Foundation over the past six months.
From Arkin's point of view, the project is first and foremost a boon for the individual scientists, giving them access to wider resources to pursue their dreams. "Their success is our success and vice versa," he remarks.
No problems, just solutions
This will be the seventh CREATE center since Singapore launched the program in 2008 to bring together a cadre of international authorities on different topics. Dr. Ehud Razin, dean of HU's faculty of medicine, is involved in another CREATE center studying the cellular and molecular mechanism of inflammation. Haifa's Technion-Israel Institute of Technology is another research presence involved in the CREATE initiative, as well as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of California-Berkeley, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and Technical University of Munich.
"Like Israel, Singapore is a small country with a small population and virtually no [natural] resources," Marks points out. Accordingly, Singapore invests major funds in technology, education and research.
"Sustainability research is one of the leading areas of research in which NTU is making a name overseas," says university president Dr. Su Guaning. "The collaboration with Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem allows NTU to contribute our expertise in nanomaterials research to find solutions that increase energy efficiency and reduce water wastage for current technologies."
Once the final CREATE center is completed next summer, all seven research centers will be relocated to a dedicated campus currently under construction adjacent to the National University of Singapore (NUS) University Town. Some 1,000 researchers will be working in the complex, including graduate students from the Israeli universities involved. Each of the team leaders will be obligated to be in residence at CREATE for 12 months over a five-year period.
Marks is enthusiastic about the staff involved from Singapore. "Everyone is very positive-minded, efficient and hard-working. Their approach is that there are never problems - only solutions to solve the problems."
Israeli scientists are collaborating with counterparts in Singapore to develop new nanomaterials to enhance the efficiency of existing energy and water management technologies.
The staff involved in the CREATE centers. From left to right: Prof Shlomo Magdassi, Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Dr Su Guaning, President of Nanyang Technological University; Teo Ming Kian, National Research Foundation (NRF); Dr Tony Tan, Chairman, NRF; Dr Francis Yeoh, CEO NRF; Prof Shankar Sastry, UC Berkeley; Prof Robert Marks, Ben Gurion University.
About 14 hours of fly time separate Singapore and Israel, yet the two countries have much in common. Two prominent Israeli academicians, Hebrew University (HU) of Jerusalem Prof. Shlomo Magdassi and Ben-Gurion University Prof Robert Marks, look forward to spending a year on this island republic off the Malay Peninsula, in the framework of a five-year collaboration.
Magdassi and Marks are partnering with Prof. Ma Jan of Singapore's Nanyang Technological University (NTU) to head up a new research center focusing on energy efficiency, as part of Singapore's National Research Foundation Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE) program.
Scientists from the three universities will work together to develop new nanomaterials to enhance the efficiency of existing energy and water management technologies.
"The idea is to advance basic research on applied orientation to create licensing startups," says Marks, a 49-year-old American-born biotechnology expert. "We'll be trying to create and commercialize new tools to help clean and monitor the water better, and to harvest better energy and conserve it."
Joint publications and intellectual property
The nanomaterials they will be synthesizing from inorganic materials such as carbon, gold and silver each possess properties that lend themselves to the realization of these goals. Nanomaterials are known to significantly improve efficiencies in energy harvesting and conservation as well as water recycling and sensing (using biosensors to monitor water for toxicity).
Applied chemistry professor Magdassi (56) says he and other HU researchers stand to gain much from the use of NTU's advanced facilities and the exposure to additional and complementary technologies developed by their Singaporean colleagues. He tells ISRAEL21c that in addition to joint publications, it is hoped that there will be joint intellectual property resulting from the collaboration.
"It's difficult to say when and if IP might come out of this, but since we're 12th in the world in generating patents and making revenue from patents, it's safe to say that it is likely to take place," adds HU vice president for R&D Prof. Shai Arkin, who has been involved in initial planning with the National Research Foundation over the past six months.
From Arkin's point of view, the project is first and foremost a boon for the individual scientists, giving them access to wider resources to pursue their dreams. "Their success is our success and vice versa," he remarks.
No problems, just solutions
This will be the seventh CREATE center since Singapore launched the program in 2008 to bring together a cadre of international authorities on different topics. Dr. Ehud Razin, dean of HU's faculty of medicine, is involved in another CREATE center studying the cellular and molecular mechanism of inflammation. Haifa's Technion-Israel Institute of Technology is another research presence involved in the CREATE initiative, as well as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of California-Berkeley, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and Technical University of Munich.
"Like Israel, Singapore is a small country with a small population and virtually no [natural] resources," Marks points out. Accordingly, Singapore invests major funds in technology, education and research.
"Sustainability research is one of the leading areas of research in which NTU is making a name overseas," says university president Dr. Su Guaning. "The collaboration with Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem allows NTU to contribute our expertise in nanomaterials research to find solutions that increase energy efficiency and reduce water wastage for current technologies."
Once the final CREATE center is completed next summer, all seven research centers will be relocated to a dedicated campus currently under construction adjacent to the National University of Singapore (NUS) University Town. Some 1,000 researchers will be working in the complex, including graduate students from the Israeli universities involved. Each of the team leaders will be obligated to be in residence at CREATE for 12 months over a five-year period.
Marks is enthusiastic about the staff involved from Singapore. "Everyone is very positive-minded, efficient and hard-working. Their approach is that there are never problems - only solutions to solve the problems."
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