AMMAN: Jordanian plans to buy gas from Israel have aroused fierce opposition in the kingdom at a time of mounting criticism of the Jewish state's policies towards the Palestinians.
Parliament began debating the proposed gas deal on Tuesday, after 79 lawmakers in the 150-seat house filed a motion calling for it to be scrapped.
"Gas supply is part of national security, so how can we link it to an enemy who does not respect its commitments?" asked Jamal Qamwa, who heads parliament's energy commission.
"We are bound to Israel by a peace treaty, but it does not respect it... It is also attacking our people (Palestinians) in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip," he told AFP.
"This whole issue is not about importing gas or about prices. Buying from Israel will make us hostage to the Zionist enemy," he said.
US giant Noble Energy announced in September that Israel would supply Jordan with 1.6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas from its Leviathan offshore field over a period of 15 years.
Leviathan is majority-owned by three Israeli companies, with 40 percent owned by Noble.
A source close to the deal, which has yet to be approved by the Jordanian government, said it would be worth $15 billion (11.4 billion euros).
The gas to be delivered to the National Electric Power Company would help reduce Jordan's annual energy bill by around two billion dollars.
Energy-poor Jordan was heavily reliant on Egyptian gas supplies, until they ground to a halt following a spate of bomb attacks since 2011 on the export pipeline through Egypt's restive Sinai Peninsula.
The government has said Jordan's energy bill this year reached four billion dinars ($5.5 million), or 40 percent of the overall budget, a figure it is determined to cut.
But critics say Israel has failed to meet its commitments under a 1994 peace treaty with Jordan and instead stepped up "violations" against the Palestinians.
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