It is no wonder that every holy book emanating from the sons and daughters of Abraham unites justice and charity in one word: “Tzedakah” the Jews call it, “Sadaqah” say the Arabs.

The Torah asks the question “Who is rich? “Answer:” The one who is happy with what he has. “

It’s not your weekly sermon, but you can’t help but think about high school comparative ethics classes as you read the power games being played out at the eastern end of the Mediterranean.

American Halliburton Company

The problem is once again Israel’s oil and gas exploration, and Lebanon’s calls to stop it. The Lebanese cabinet asked the permanent representative of the United Nations to stop Tel Aviv after granting the American company Halliburton an offshore drilling contract in the Mediterranean. These areas are clearly beyond Israel’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Israel is already pumping gas from huge offshore fields disputed by Lebanon.

Halliburton will work with Greek energy producer Energean to drill five wells north of the Karish natural gas field. Three years ago, the Greek company discovered a large reserve of natural gas off the Israeli coast. The only problem was that these areas are outside the legitimate areas where Israel can drill safely. According to preliminary estimates, the latest discovery in the region represents between 28 billion cubic meters (Gcm) and 42 Gcm of natural gas. The drilling area granted to Halliburton under the contract is expected to contain 32 billion m3 of gas reserves, according to the Greeks.

The Greek and American groups are both very enthusiastic about the idea of ​​continuing to “maximize the value of their Mediterranean offshore wells”. They don’t care if the area is in an area claimed by Lebanon. Why would anyone care about Lebanon’s claims? The country does not have frigates like Israel and Greece! (Greece does not have them physically yet, but French President Emmanuel Macron has promised to send them to Greece as soon as they are built!) In addition, the US government will arbitrate negotiations between Israel and Lebanon regarding their maritime borders. (Imagine the wolf’s nephew mediating between the wolf and the lamb!)

Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration in southern Cyprus had called on Turkey to stop drilling off the coast of the island, the area close to areas disputed by Lebanon, which Turkey outright rejected, claiming that its drilling activities in the region are legitimate. But Lebanon is not Turkey; just before the signing of the Halliburton accord, internal unrest erupted in Beirut. The fragile balance of political power in the country is in danger, and another civil war could start out of the blue! So it was Lebanese Hezbollah chief Hasan Nasrallah who warned Israel to stop drilling until the issue was resolved, threatening to act if Israel started drilling. “The resistance in Lebanon at the right time will act accordingly,” Nasrallah said. It is terrorism and it will only complicate problems and kill innocent people. Israel would only profit from the act of terrorism and use it to legitimize its theft of Lebanese oil. to share with Greece.

Capture Lebanese gas

Wolf’s nephew, US mediator for indirect talks, Amos Hochstein, will conduct what he calls shuttle diplomacy, similar to a tactic he tried a year ago and which came to nothing, for which Israel and Greece continued to collect oil and gas from Lebanon. Meanwhile, poor Israeli civilians will argue whether the 100,000 Hezbollah fighters are a symbolic lie, a figure of speech, or whether Nasrallah is exaggerating his warning to Israel.

Strangled is the voice of common sense in this brawl over drilling rights. Usually the weather is not very cold in Lebanon, yet the country imports gas from Italy, Russia and Kuwait. Instead of engaging in a politics of power, Israel could act as a good neighbor and sit at a negotiating table not only with Lebanon but also with the Palestinians and Egypt.

The Torah continues to answer the question it posed by declaring: “Happy is he who has met a valiant woman! It is infinitely more precious than pearls. Because she knows the Hebrew meaning of generosity: “By giving, we receive.