Israel refutes Gatt claims of 'threats' and pressure over Delimara contract

The Israeli ambassador to Malta, Gideon Meir, has reacted sternly to claims by infrastructure minister Austin Gatt in the public accounts committee that former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert allegedly attempted to speak to Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi on the failed bid by Israeli firm Bateman for the Delimara power station extension.

“The State of Israel suggests that whoever needs to explain the odd results of the Delimara power station tender should focus on the issue itself instead of trying to involve us by using false accusations,” a spokesperson for the Rome-based ambassador told MaltaToday.

Spokesperson Yariv Ovadia said:  “the allegations suggesting that the Israeli Ambassador or any other Israeli official had threatened any Maltese official are totally false.”

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi was said to have refused a phone call from former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Gatt told the PAC that Israeli company Hutney Bateman had “threatened and offered incentives to the government in order to win the contract.”

The minister added that Ehud Olmert, who was disgraced over corruption scandals, insisted to speak over the phone with Prime Minister Gonzi over the bid, but the Prime Minister “refused to take the call as politicians do not get involved in contracts.”

Gatt stressed that the refusal came in the wake of a previous meeting between Prime Minister Gonzi and the Israeli Ambassador accredited to Malta.

“We feel sorry that the integrity of the State of Israel and the Ambassador of Israel to Malta were dragged into this internal Maltese affair. We suggest that whoever needs to explain the odd results of the tender should focus on the issue itself instead of trying to involve us by using false accusations,” Ovadia said.

Gatt told the PAC that the Israeli ambassador had warned the Prime Minister  that "the issue is going to embarrass the Maltese government as the Malta Labour Party has good contacts with the Hutney Bateman consortium and has all the details of the tender."

But Ovadia said that “during the routine rounds of meetings of the Ambassador, various people on the island expressed their concern that apparently there are irregularities in this tender. At that point, so as not to interfere with internal Maltese controversy, the Ambassador decided to refrain from dealing with the subject. He also informed Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi of his decision.”

The Israeli statement ended with a bizarre congratulatory note on the double-taxation agreement with Israel that is being finalised “to the great satisfaction of the Maltese authorities and will be signed in the very near future.”

Ovadia said the Ambassador of Israel “acted in a proper manner and as part of his duties to promote economic cooperation between Malta and Israel.”