Israel halts Golan oil exploration

Israel has withdrawn permission for the state-owned oil company to carry out oil exploration on the Golan Heights, captured from Syria in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, officials said on July 2.

The decision to withdraw the permit from the soon-to-be-privatized company was made by Tzipi Livni, the director general for public sector companies, whose department reports directly to Premiere Netanyahu.

Israel's Maariv newspaper urged the government to retain the rights to potential exploration on the Golan. Turning them over to the private sector could lead to a "serious political crisis " with Syria, it said.

Livni said the decision was made for "purely economic and legal reasons.”