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In the first article of this series (Defeating Israel) I commented on a possible result of Israel being recently defined as a terrorist organization by the Human Rights Commission of the UN. An international army could be sent – as it was to Iraq – in an attempt to stop the atrocities of the Zionist regime and to restore democracy to the area. It was shown that if well organized such an effort has large probabilities of success, while inflicting a minimum of damages to human lives.
Yet, Israel owns an impressive amount of chemical industries. If ignoring their locations and specific dangers, such a force may cause a chemical disaster of astounding dimensions. This article is an introductory one to the topic, commenting on the dangers only in general lines.
The largest dangers are concentrated in two zones, both of them densely populated: Haifa and Beer Sheva. Haifa is home to the Oil Refineries, the Gadot Chemical Port and various industries. The docks of Gadot hold large quantities of highly reactive chemicals at all times, especially for the plastic and agrochemical industries. Its location implies the whole of the Haifa Bay could be contaminated if the containers were harmed to the extent of stopping the port activities at all, or at least limiting them seriously.
Wait a minute… did I say Oil Refineries? Does Israel have oil wells? Not exactly. During the days of the British Mandate on Palestine, there was an oil pipe from Iraq to Haifa, marked in old maps with an “H.” It still exists and is strategically important (*) though it is inactive. However, the refineries are very active. What’s the economic point of importing crude oil and distilling it for local consumption? That’s not the point – the financial side seldom is the key when dealing with Israel. Oil refineries use mono- di- and tri- ethanol amines in the oil purification process. Does this list ring a bell? Triethanolamine – usually known as TEA – is a precursor of chemical weapons and is smuggled out from the refineries to other industrial locations. The spilling of these and other chemical products stored and used in refineries may cause a serious ecological disaster. The adjacent streams are already heavily polluted; many soldiers from the marine commando suffer of cancer due to their training sessions in these waters.
Still related to the oil industry are the vast subterranean reservoirs of military and civilian grade gasoline. If spilled they could contaminate the limited water subterranean wells under the West Bank. Access to these waters is one of the main drives of Israel for holding empty mountainous areas along the Samarian mounts. The extensive use of these waters in recent years caused a serious lowering of their levels, transforming the surrounding ground (i.e. the whole of central Israel) into a highly thirsty sponge readily absorbing any liquids, and increasing thus the rate of the contamination process in the case of a spill.
The industries in Beer Sheva include mainly those related to by-products of salts extracted from the Dead Sea by the Dead Sea Works – formerly known as the Palestine Potash Company. The salts are used for the production of agrochemical products and for the bromine related industries, mainly for the production of fire retardants. Most synthetic carpets in the world use fire-retardants produced here. The extraction of the salts is done on the southern side of the Dead Sea, where all the evaporation pools can be seen, but its chemical processing is done in several plants in the outskirts of Beer Sheva. There, two corporations make the processing: Makhteshim-Agan for the agrochemical products and ICL (Israel Chemical) for the bromine industry. Even those knowing very little chemistry know bromine is highly reactive and poisonous; the same goes for fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides. That means unusual quantities of pollutants are produced and stored next to the city.
Yet, the danger here is unexpectedly large since the Makhteshim plant (Makhteshim and Agan are two different companies in the corporation owned by Koor and each has its own plant) produces methyl isocyanate.
What’s methyl isocyanate? This extremely toxic substance is used in the production of pesticides. It became famous during the night of December 3, 1984, when it was spilled in the Bhopal installations of a company now owned by Dow Chemical. Defined as the worst industrial disaster in history, it caused the death of thousands, many more were crippled and the ground is still contaminated there. Dow Chemical learned nothing; it is a major provider of Oil Refineries, Makhteshim, Agan and ICL via the Jacobson Agencies in Hertzeliya Pituach. More details on this appear in my book The Cross of Bethlehem.
At all times, there are hundreds of kilograms of this substance waiting for further process at the Makhteshim plant.
Is this the whole picture? Hardly so, Israel has the potential of becoming the scene of the worst industrial disaster, overtaking Bhopal by several orders of magnitude.
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Roy Tov is a refugee recognized under the 1951 Geneva Convention. Due to a recent attack by Israel, he was left with permanent damage in his throat. Israel attempted also to entrap him in several ways, even by using a prominent American politician. He is seeking resettlement under the 1967 Geneva Protocol or to be gracefully recognized by other country under the 1951 Convention. In any case that must be in a country with no diplomatic relations with Israel.
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The Cross of Bethlehem
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