Latest news with #Haaretz
Middle East Eye
13 hours ago
- Business
- Middle East Eye
Azerbaijan maintains oil sales to Israel despite Turkish backlash, says report
Azerbaijan has vowed to Israel that it will continue supplying the country with oil, despite officially halting oil sales last year, according to a report in Haaretz. Baku recently removed oil sales to Israel from its customs records, after steady year-on-year increases in exports to the country which had reached over a million tons in 2024. According to the records, exports to Israel stopped in October amid the war on Gaza. However, Israeli sources told Haaretz that the sales have continued, and that the change in customs records may be due to the transactions being made to traders registered in third countries. "We received a promise from the Azerbaijanis that the strategic relations will continue, including in the energy sector, and we have nothing to worry about," one source said. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters Two Israeli sources said that the halt on sales in October was driven by pressure from Turkey, Baku's most important political and military ally. Azerbaijan's state oil company to invest $7bn in Turkey Read More » The Turkish pressure, Haaretz reported, is partly due to the fact that Azerbaijani oil exported to Israel is carried by the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, running through Turkey. Ankara cut trade ties with Israel in May last year over the war on Gaza and Israeli refusal to allow Turkey to airdrop humanitarian aid to the besieged Palestinian enclave. Several Turkish opposition parties and voices have protested against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government, accusing it of continuing to supply Israel with Azerbaijani oil. Protests have also taken place outside the Istanbul office of Socar, Azerbaijan's state oil company. The Israeli source told Haaretz: "Even if Azerbaijan stops exporting oil to Israel, we will not collapse. We will bring it from somewhere else. "But they want to balance the situation in which they are dependent only on us, from a security perspective.' Tankers turning off tracking signal Israel provided military and diplomatic assistance to Azerbaijan in its offensive against Armenia in September 2023, which resulted in an Azerbaijani takeover of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. Ilham Shaban, the chairman of the Azerbaijani Caspian Barrel Oil Research Centre, told Haaretz that by selling oil through individuals, it can avoid publicising that the exports eventually end up in Israel. He said that Baku could then claim that the sales do 'not fuel the planes that annihilate Palestinian children'. Analysis in November found evidence of 'systemised trade' in crude oil between Turkey and Israel, despite Ankara's trade embargo over the war. The Stop Fuelling Genocide campaign released evidence that suggested that the Seavigour tanker shipped crude oil from Turkey's Ceyhan port to a pipeline near Ashkelon in Israel. Cop29 turns heat up on Turkey and Azerbaijan over oil exports to Israel Read More » The port is the last stop on the BP-owned Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. The oil is then shipped from the Heydar Aliyev Terminal at Ceyhan to Israel, accounting for almost 30 percent of its crude oil imports. The researchers tracked 10 journeys made in 2024 by the Kimolos tanker between Ceyhan and Ashkelon, with eight of them occurring after Turkey announced its embargo in May. Despite the ship turning off its tracking signal for several days in the Eastern Mediterranean to mask its route, the researchers managed to identify it as docking in Israel 10 times using satellite imagery. Port logs for the Kimolos reveal that on a typical trip to Israel, the tanker is registered as being bound for Egypt, leaving with a full load of oil. But the tanker does not dock in Egypt, instead 'disappearing' for a few days in the Eastern Mediterranean. This strategy follows a similar pattern to that of the Seavigour, which also turned off its location transponder and reappeared in Sicily days later. The Turkish energy ministry has repeatedly denied that any oil tankers bound for Israel have left Ceyhan since May, stating that 'companies transporting oil through the BTC pipeline for export to global markets from Haydar Aliyev Terminal have respected Turkiye's recent decision not to engage in trade with Israel'. Middle East Eye previously reported that the advocacy group Oil Change International, which authored a report tracking oil shipments to Israel up until July 2024, said its data sources showed multiple shipments from Ceyhan since May. A Turkish official previously told MEE that BP sells oil to intermediary companies, which Ankara cannot control, and tankers pick up the oil "without declaring their final destination".
Middle East Eye
a day ago
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
Israeli navy prepares to block Gaza-bound flotilla
Israel's navy is reportedly getting ready to intercept the Madleen flotilla as it heads towards Gaza on Sunday night, with military sources suggesting efforts are being made to avoid drawing widespread media attention. The Israeli military says it has rehearsed multiple scenarios ahead of the planned operation to stop the vessel, the Israaeli daily Haaretz reported. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz earlier issued a warning to those on board, stating that he had ordered the army to use 'any means necessary' to stop the flotilla from breaching the naval blockade. 'The State of Israel will not allow anyone to violate the naval blockade on Gaza, which aims to prevent the transfer of weapons to Hamas,' Katz said. He added, 'Greta and her friends better turn back – because they will not reach Gaza.' The flotilla's organisers say their mission is humanitarian, aimed at challenging Israel's ongoing siege of the coastal enclave.
Irish Times
3 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
The Irish Times view on Israel's international reputation: sliding ever downward
Slowly but perceptibly, the relentless flow of images of horror and suffering from Gaza is hardening opposition to Israel's actions there, even among those traditionally considered the country's staunchest supporters. The shift will be unacceptably slow for anyone desperate to stop the killing, while it appears to have had little effect as yet on the brutal tactics of Israeli forces. But it represents a change of attitude among international political leaders and their voters that could have far-reaching consequences for the region. A YouGov poll this week showed support and sympathy for Israel in western Europe at its lowest ever level. Less than 20 per cent of respondents held a favourable opinion of the country. In what the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz described as 'a rebuke typically reserved for pariah regimes,' the UK has suspended free trade negotiations. Along with Canada and France, it has also threatened 'concrete actions' in response to what Keir Starmer describes as Israel's 'appalling' actions. Even Germany issued its harshest criticism since the war began with the Hamas attack of October 7th 2023, Chancellor Friedrich Merz saying he 'no longer understands' Israel's goals in Gaza. Ireland has been among the most vociferous EU opponents of the war and a further landmark arrived this week with Trinity College Dublin's decision to sever all ties with Israeli companies and universities. It remains to be seen whether other institutions follow suit, but the move, while largely symbolic, is significant nonetheless. READ MORE Supporters of Binyamin Netanyahu's government are quick to paint such gestures as anti-Smitic. It is true that the scourge of anti-Semitism can be found among some elements of the anti-war movement, as recent violent attacks in the US have shown. But the accusation that all protests are driven by hatred of Jews rather than humanitarian concern does not stand up to scrutiny. The charge wears even thinner given opposition in Israel itself. Former prime minister Ehud Olmert has described his country's actions as a war crime. Hundreds of former operatives of the intelligence agency Mossad, including three retired heads, have accused Netanyahu of continuing the violence for selfish political reasons, to satisfy far-right members of his government. These comments may reflect a rising awareness among some of the country's elite that what is happening in Gaza is not just an appalling tragedy for Palestinians. It also threatens to become a disaster for the state of Israel. With the governing coalition under the sway of far-right racist ministers who have no respect for international law or for the human rights of those they deem 'barbarians', Israel drifts ever further away from the liberal democratic values it purports to share with its increasingly sceptical friends and allies.
Channel 4
5 days ago
- General
- Channel 4
Israel is turning into ‘pariah state', says Israeli journalist
We were joined in Tel-Aviv by Gideon Levy, a journalist for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
Newsweek
01-06-2025
- Politics
- Newsweek
Ex-Israeli PM Condemns Government 'Thugs' Carrying Out 'War Crimes' in Gaza
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert condemned the "thugs" in the government of current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, doubling down on his accusation that they are committing "war crimes" against Palestinians in Gaza. Olmert's comments came during an interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria on his show GPS, in which the former Israeli leader discussed a recent op-ed he wrote for Israeli newspaper Haaretz titled: "Enough Is Enough. Israel Is Committing War Crimes." "What Netanyahu is doing, and a group of thugs, which are part of his cabinet, is polarizing the Israeli society," he said. The former prime minister said that it's "important" that the international community know that these current Israeli leaders are not the "voice" of his country. This is a developing story and will be updated.
