page_title: Yuval Steinitz
section_title: Minister of Energy and Water Resources (2015–present)
hierarchical_section_title: Yuval Steinitz / Minister of Energy and Water Resources (2015–present)
caption_attribution_description: עברית: במלון קינג דיוויד, ירושלים
context_page_description: Yuval Steinitz is Israel's Minister of Energy, in charge of Israel Atomic Energy Commission and a member of the Security Cabinet. He is a member of the Knesset from the Likud party. He served as Minister of Finance and as Minister of Intelligence and Strategic Affairs. Steinitz holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy and was a senior lecturer at the University of Haifa.
context_section_description: In May 2015, Steinitz was appointed Minister of National Infrastructure, Energy and Water Resources, as well as Minister in charge of the Israel Atomic Energy Commission. Two months later, after several years of delays and against very strong opposition from the Israeli left circles, Steinitz formulated the "Gas Framework", in order to enable the development of Israel's biggest gas discovery "Leviathan" (discovered in 2010), and to pave the way to future gas and oil explorations. The "Gas Framework" was approved by the Israeli government in August 2015, and by the Knesset Plenum in September 2015. Yet in March 2016 Israel's Supreme court nullified the framework stability section, and forced Minister Steinitz to amend it and bring it back to government approval. The revised framework was approved in May 2016, and the development of "Leviathan" ultimately started.
  In April 2016 the US Energy Secretary Dr. Ernest Moniz visited Israel for the first time. Together with Steinitz, they signed a bilateral agreement which upgrades the energy cooperation between the United States and Israel.
  In July 2016 Steinitz announced that the Ministry of Energy will publish new oil and gas licenses, after four years in which the country economic waters were practically closed for new explorations and searches.
  During 2017, the natural gas monopoly consisting of the Israeli company Delek and the American company Noble Energy had begun to fall apart, when the selling of the Karish-Tanin to the Greek company Energean occurred. This ultimately led to more competition for customers and the cheaper prices.
  In April 2017 Steinitz hosted the ministers of energy from Italy, Greece, and Cyprus, as well as the European Commissioner for Energy, to kick off his plan to construct a sub-sea pipeline—the longest and deepest in the world—allowing Israel and Cyprus to export gas to Greece and Italy, and through them to west Europe.
  In his capacity, Steinitz initiated a plan to eliminating the use of coal and polluting fuels in the State of Israel, and replacing them with natural gas and renewable energies. Within three years, the percentage of coal and mazut dropped from 65% of electricity production in 2015 to 25% in 2018. According to the plan, in 2027 Israel will no longer continue to use coal. Steinitz has also promoted a plan to shift all transportation in Israel from traditional fuels to electricity and natural gas, by the year 2030.
  In June 2018, Steinitz signed an implementation agreement with his American counterpart, Rick Perry, establishing a joint energy research and development center. This cooperation agreement aims to accelerate development and rapid deployment of critical and innovative technologies for natural gas, cybersecurity, energy-water nexus, water storage, and other areas of energy that are needed to diversify energy supply and promote higher efficiency.
caption: US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and Steinitz in Jerusalem, April 2016
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