Given the disgraceful Sun front page and middle spread urging war on Syria, and the all-out propaganda on Sky News, it is important to understand why Murdoch is pushing so hard for war. I therefore reproduce my article from February 2013. It is important to note that the links are to industry publications: this is very genuine, hard information.
Israel Grants Oil Rights in Syria to Murdoch and Rothschild
Israel has granted oil exploration rights inside Syria, in the occupied Golan Heights, to Genie Energy. Major shareholders of Genie Energy – which also has interests in shale gas in the United States and shale oil in Israel – include Rupert Murdoch and Lord Jacob Rothschild. This from a 2010 Genie Energy press release
Claude Pupkin, CEO of Genie Oil and Gas, commented, “Genie’s success will ultimately depend, in part, on access to the expertise of the oil and gas industry and to the financial markets. Jacob Rothschild and Rupert Murdoch are extremely well regarded by and connected to leaders in these sectors. Their guidance and participation will prove invaluable.”
“I am grateful to Howard Jonas and IDT for the opportunity to invest in this important initiative,” Lord Rothschild said. “Rupert Murdoch’s extraordinary achievements speak for themselves and we are very pleased he has agreed to be our partner. Genie Energy is making good technological progress to tap the world’s substantial oil shale deposits which could transform the future prospects of Israel, the Middle East and our allies around the world.”
For Israel to seek to exploit mineral reserves in the occupied Golan Heights is plainly illegal in international law. Japan was succesfully sued by Singapore before the International Court of Justice for exploitation of Singapore’s oil resources during the second world war. The argument has been made in international law that an occupying power is entitled to opeate oil wells which were previously functioning and operated by the sovereign power, in whose position the occupying power now stands. But there is absolutely no disagreement in the authorities and case law that the drilling of new wells – let alone fracking – by an occupying power is illegal.
Israel tried to make the same move twenty years ago but was forced to back down after a strong reaction from the Syrian government, which gained diplomatic support from the United States. Israel is now seeking to take advantage of the weakened Syrian state; this move perhaps casts a new light on recent Israeli bombings in Syria.
In a rational world, the involvement of Rothschild and Murdoch in this international criminal activity would show them not to be fit and proper persons to hold major commercial interests elsewhere, and action would be taken. Naturally, nothing of the kind will happen.
You say that your piece is based on hard facts.
I note that you first wrote it in early 2013 – three and a half years ago.
Nothing has actually happened, though, since then,otherwise I’m sure you would have told us.
What are the hard facts underlying your claim that “Israel is now seeking to take advantage of the weakened Syrian state”?
Also, what makes you think that the potentialities on the Golan Heights are such as to make exploration there rather than off-shore in the eastern Med a likely, logical and imminent course of action for Israel?
“I note that you first wrote it in early 2013 – three and a half years ago.”
Early 2013 was 3.5 years ago? How time flies!
Glad you are bringing this to our attention, Craig.
Glenn
Mea culpa and thanks. So let’s say two and a half years ago – which doesn’t invalidate my questions, I think you’d agree?
I knew the Z trolls would not like this (up’em that is)!
BREATHTAKING piece of fact – sincere thanks Craig – courageous, spirited and brave.
Craig it appears your link is not working.Here is the one.
http://genie.com/media/genie-energy-in-the-media/
Its all interlinked with US Vanguard Group inc.
Dick Cheney was also a member of Genie Energy Corporation Strategic Advisory Board.
Dick Cheney (Halliburton), had close to $85 million invested in the Vanguard Group.
Rupert Murdoch is Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of News Corp.
Vanguard Group Inc held 85,939,439 shares on 12/31/2012 worth $2,192,315,109 in News Corp.
John Kerrys wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, has over $3,500,001 stake in General Electric Co.
Biggest stakeholder in General Electric Co is Vanguard Group:
Jul 30, 2012
The board of directors of General Electric Co. has elected John J. Brennan as an independent member of the company’s board of directors.
Brennan is chairman emeritus and a senior advisor of The Vanguard Group Inc.
Vangaurd got Investments in every going concern.
Raytheon, for example #5 15,664,626 $920,923,362
This from 2013:
‘Raytheon stock nears all-time high amid news of possible cruise-missile strike in Syria
Stock shares of perennial defense contracting powerhouse Raytheon hit nearly $77 apiece Tuesday as news of a possible US strike in Syria intensified. The US has said if it strikes Syrian government targets for alleged use of chemical weapons, it would likely use Tomahawk cruise missiles from warships positioned in the Mediterranean. Raytheon is responsible for making and selling the bulk of the long-range, subsonic missiles to the US government.’
John Kerry spouse, Teresa Heinz Kerry, holdings.
3. Raytheon Co. $960,010 – $2,200,000
• Raytheon Co. received $11,662,797,975 in government contracts for fiscal year 2007, including a total of approx. $10 billion from the Army, Navy, and Air Force.
US goes to war, they the politicians get return on investments from the very instruments that do the killing.
That’s how the game works.
Jkick
Thanks. That’s invaluable information.
Evidently Genie have expunged that press release from their website where I first found it. Can any of you forensic geniuses unearth the evidence it was there?
The Genie management and board
http://genie.com/investors/governance/
Some good old Anglo Saxon names in the lists.
Craig the best I can do is this link.http://genie.com/media/genie-energy-in-the-media/
You then put 2010 in their search box and it will show the files.
Why does the 404 answer to the request for the Genie press release come from ‘IDT’?
IDT provides communications
and payment services that help
people to stay in touch and share
resources around the world.
Did the original press release come from them???
Maybe best to copy it before it does go down?
NEWARK, NJ – November 15, 2010: Genie Energy Corporation (Genie Energy), a division of IDT Corporation (NYSE: IDT, IDT.C), today announced that Lord (Jacob) Rothschild and Rupert Murdoch have each purchased equity stakes in Genie Oil and Gas Inc. Jacob Rothschild will join Rupert Murdoch on Genie Energy’s Strategic Advisory Board and Jacob Rothschild’s interests will partner with Genie Energy to raise capital for the eventual commercialization of its oil shale projects.
Jacob Rothschild and Mr. Murdoch separately purchased equity positions equivalent to a cumulative 5.5% stake in Genie Oil and Gas Inc., which consists of IDT’s interests in American Shale Oil, LLC (AMSO), and Israel Energy Initiatives, Ltd., (IEI), for a total of $11.0 million dollars.
Claude Pupkin, CEO of Genie Oil and Gas, commented, “Genie’s success will ultimately depend, in part, on access to the expertise of the oil and gas industry and to the financial markets. Jacob Rothschild and Rupert Murdoch are extremely well regarded by and connected to leaders in these sectors. Their guidance and participation will prove invaluable.”
“I am grateful to Howard Jonas and IDT for the opportunity to invest in this important initiative,” Lord Rothschild said. “Rupert Murdoch’s extraordinary achievements speak for themselves and we are very pleased he has agreed to be our partner. Genie Energy is making good technological progress to tap the world’s substantial oil shale deposits which could transform the future prospects of Israel, the Middle East and our allies around the world.”
Jacob Rothschild, OM, GBE is Chairman of the J. Rothschild group of companies and of RIT Capital Partners plc (RITCP), the investment trust company. RITCP is listed on the London Stock Exchange and has a market cap of over £1.7 billion. Jacob Rothschild is also Chairman of Five Arrows Limited, a family investment company, and a number of other companies. Jacob Rothschild is a noted philanthropist, and serves as Chairman of the Rothschild Foundation.
“The Rothschild family continues to build on its 250-year tradition of leadership in the financing of innovation and growth,” said IDT’s Chairman and CEO, Howard Jonas. “It is a great honor to me, my family and our Company that he has agreed to partner with us to advance this project to its successful conclusion. Rupert Murdoch is the greatest and most well informed media magnate of our generation. His decision to invest in our shale initiatives and serve on Genie’s Strategic Advisory Board is very gratifying and we look forward to benefiting from his input.”
“Covering and distributing news has been my life’s work,” said Mr. Murdoch. “If Genie’s effort to develop shale oil is successful, as I believe it will be, then the news we’ll report in the coming decades will reflect a more prosperous, more democratic, and more secure world.”
Rupert Murdoch is the founder, Chairman of the Board, and CEO of News Corporation, one of the world’s largest diversified media companies. News Corporation’s holdings include Fox Entertainment, The Wall Street Journal, the New York Post, HarperCollins and significant other media assets on six continents.
Other members of Genie’s Strategic Advisory Board are:
Alan K. Burnham, PhD – Chief Technology Officer, American Shale Oil, LLC.; Research scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for over 30 years;
Dick Cheney – 46th Vice President of the United States. Former President and CEO of Halliburton Company, and U.S. Secretary of Defense;
Wes Perry – Chairman of the Board, Genie Energy. Founder and CEO of E.G.L. Resources, an energy exploration and development company;
Allan Sass, PhD – Former President and CEO of Occidental Oil Shale, a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum;
Michael Steinhardt – Principal Manager, Steinhardt Management LLC. Renowned hedge fund investor and founder Steinhardt, Fine, Berkowitz & Co., and noted philanthropist;
Eugene A. Renna – Former Executive Vice President of Exxon Mobil and a member of its Board. Also formerly President and COO of Mobil Corporation;
Stephen M. Trauber – Vice Chairman and Global Head; Energy Investment Banking Group, UBS Investment Bank;
Harold Vinegar, PhD – Former Chief Scientist – Royal Dutch Shell.
About Genie Energy:
Genie Energy Corporation is a division of IDT Corporation (www.idt.net), a consumer services company with operations primarily in the telecommunications and energy industries. IDT Corporation’s Class B Common Stock and Common Stock trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbols IDT and IDT.C, respectively.
Genie Energy is comprised of IDT Energy, an energy services company that resells electricity and natural gas to residential and small business customers primarily in New York State, and Genie Oil and Gas, Inc., which consists of (1) American Shale Oil Corporation which holds and manages a 50% interest in American Shale Oil, LLC, a joint shale oil initiative in Colorado with Total, S.A., and (2) an 89% interest in Israel Energy Initiatives, Ltd., a shale oil initiative in Israel.
It’s here Craig, on Business Wire. Copy it before they get to it.
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20101115007704/en/Business-Financial-Leaders-Lord-Rothschild-Rupert-Murdoch
Business and Financial Leaders Lord Rothschild and Rupert Murdoch Invest in Genie Oil & Gas
November 15, 2010 05:56 PM Eastern Standard Time
NEWARK, N.J.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Genie Energy Corporation (Genie Energy), a division of IDT Corporation (NYSE: IDT, IDT.C), today announced that Lord (Jacob) Rothschild and Rupert Murdoch have each purchased equity stakes in Genie Oil and Gas Inc. Jacob Rothschild will join Rupert Murdoch on Genie Energy’s Strategic Advisory Board and Jacob Rothschild’s interests will partner with Genie Energy to raise capital for the eventual commercialization of its oil shale projects.
“The Rothschild family continues to build on its 250-year tradition of leadership in the financing of innovation and growth”
Jacob Rothschild and Mr. Murdoch separately purchased equity positions equivalent to a cumulative 5.5% stake in Genie Oil and Gas Inc., which consists of IDT’s interests in American Shale Oil, LLC (AMSO), and Israel Energy Initiatives, Ltd., (IEI), for a total of $11.0 million dollars.
Claude Pupkin, CEO of Genie Oil and Gas, commented, “Genie’s success will ultimately depend, in part, on access to the expertise of the oil and gas industry and to the financial markets. Jacob Rothschild and Rupert Murdoch are extremely well regarded by and connected to leaders in these sectors. Their guidance and participation will prove invaluable.”
“I am grateful to Howard Jonas and IDT for the opportunity to invest in this important initiative,” Lord Rothschild said. “Rupert Murdoch’s extraordinary achievements speak for themselves and we are very pleased he has agreed to be our partner. Genie Energy is making good technological progress to tap the world’s substantial oil shale deposits which could transform the future prospects of Israel, the Middle East and our allies around the world.”
/…
and further
Putting ‘Golan’ into the search box reveals that Genie completed their second exploratory well in the Golan on the 28th July 2015. This is part of a ten-well programme.
NEWARK, NJ – July 28, 2015: Genie Energy, Ltd., (NYSE: GNE, GNEPRA) announced today that its Afek subsidiary has completed drilling at Ness 3, the second well of its exploratory drilling program in Northern Israel’s Golan Heights. Preliminary results from the well are consistent with the assumptions underlying the exploratory program and the results encountered at Ness 5 – the first well drilled in the program, which is located about 5 km to the northeast of Ness 3.
Afek is conducting exploratory drilling program of up to 10 wells under an exclusive petroleum exploration license granted by Israel’s Energy and Water Ministry and a drilling permit issued by Israel’s Northern District Planning and Building Committee.
The company is nearing completion of its analysis of the cores removed from Ness 5, as well as the logs and other information from that well, and is continuing its analysis of the cores and logging data obtained at Ness 3.
The preliminary analysis indicates the presence of hydrocarbons in vertical sections in both locations.
While results are preliminary, based on its analysis to date, Genie is optimistic about its program and is committed to additional analysis, flow testing, new seismic work and exploratory drilling at other sites in its license area.
The volume of the resources and to what extent they may be extractable cannot yet be determined. The resources do not constitute proved, probable or possible reserves.
“We remain optimistic by the results to date,” said Howard Jonas, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Genie. “After many years of work on this project, we are now gathering the data to determine if there is a significant extractable resource. We stand behind our world-leading scientific team and are pleased that the preliminary results are consistent with their theories.”
Not out-of date at all, then. And….many years.
It is surprising that not many people are aware of this mundane fact reflected by Craig’s latest post, and evidently seems to come as a fresh news. This reality is an indictment of the oligarch owned media and their selective emphasis on tertiary issues, at the expense of the real and present dangers to the sovereignty of countries and liberties and freedoms of the inhabitants of Earth.
PS must we tolerate the mendacious and puerile spamming of this board by the agents of a foreign entity?
O/T Cameron admits to extra judicial killings of terrrrists by airstrike in Syria during August.
Said pat. Shocking.
When I was growing up there used to be a comic called ‘Battle’, which was all about heroic marines and commandos slaying the nasty Hun and the evil Japs.
Cameron’s explanation as to why he’s ignored the wishes of Parliament, and gone against international law, seems to have come straight out of this comic.
It seems that Cameron has a kill list just like Obama.
But why did Cameron reveal the RAF drone strike as he spoke in Parliament?
Did he read today’s Sun newspaper?
Having just started Psychopathic Cultures and Toxic Empires by Will Black, I wonder how many of these organisations would fit these criteria.
It really is scary to note the unfettered access not to mention lack of control these Psychopaths enjoy.
Of course our intrepid BBC will investigate fully. Won’t it?
https://justinfayresweeklyrant.wordpress.com/the-neoliberalists-wet-dream/
Murdoch is also in favor of break-up of United Kingdom.
“Rupert Murdoch is taking revenge on the London political class by personally endorsing Scottish independence. The mutual appreciation society formed between the Sun King and Alex Salmond is reminiscent of the Aussie-American tycoon’s past corporate affairs with Premiers Thatcher, Blair, Brown and Cameron. Dropped by Cameron, abused by Brown, the Dirty Digger’s retaliation is to back the destruction of the United Kingdom,” wrote Kevin Maguire in British daily New Statesman, March 1, 2012.
http://rehmat1.com/2012/03/04/murdoch-favors-break-up-of-united-kingdom/
Is Rebekkah Brooks back astride her
horsedesk?Why don’t the US want Russia to bomb ISIS? It’s OK for everyone else to have a go.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/07/us-mideast-crisis-syria-russia-idUSKCN0R70WT20150907
Murdoch is also in favor of break-up of United Kingdom.
BS. He’s in favour of whatever pays his filthy organisation best. The Scottish Sun supported independence (halfheartedly) while the English variant opposed it (truculently). Accusing the man of having principles of any kind is unduly complimentary.
I think Russia could defeat ISIS very quickly if they put their mind to it. Passing control back to Assad.
And there lies the problem.
Murdoch’s got one foot in the grave and there’s a special place in hell waiting for him. His evil empire, however, will continue without him; unless people gather at some point and do something about it. I’d be inclined to send them all off to the Falkands to worry sheep and get some much needed re-education.
This snapshot opinion from January
http://www.quora.com/Middle-East/Who-is-fighting-whom-in-the-Middle-East-as-of-January-2015
Doe anyone on here have the slightest clue as to what the truth is and explain the facts; of who is fighting who in the ME, what are their gripes, what strategies are they utilising to get what the want and which particular group(s) is it planned that the UK bombs?
Or doesn’t any of this matter as long as the US eventually gains control of the region? I’m not surprised the Russians are thinking of putting a stop to it.
Peter, Nafeez Ahmed used to work for the Guardian. I can’t now remember if he was fired or left in disgust, because he claims he was muzzled by the Guardian. Ahmed now does his own journalism:
“A declassified secret US government document obtained by the conservative public interest law firm, Judicial Watch, shows that Western governments deliberately allied with al-Qaeda and other Islamist extremist groups to topple Syrian dictator Bashir al-Assad.
The document reveals that in coordination with the Gulf states and Turkey, the West intentionally sponsored violent Islamist groups to destabilize Assad, and that these “supporting powers” desired the emergence of a “Salafist Principality” in Syria to “isolate the Syrian regime.”
https://medium.com/insurge-intelligence/secret-pentagon-report-reveals-west-saw-isis-as-strategic-asset-b99ad7a29092
It is a reasonable assumption that Murdoch (banked by Rothschild) would want to wage war on Syria to continue its aggressive move towards creating a United States of Israel on the US model. The ultimate move, were this ever achieved, would be world domination. This time it is not native Americans being killed in genocidal murder but Iraqis, Libyans and Syrians and anyone else who gets in the way. Not only should Netanyahu be arrested should he step foot on this land of mine. Israel should be dragged kicking and screaming before the ICC for its war crimes.
I used to believe in a two-state solution. Today I believe Israel has lost the right to exist because of all its violations of international law and its apartheid two-tier system.
Noddy, you’re going to have to resit math!
Here is a direct link to a pdf.
http://genieoilgas.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/PR-111510-Rothschild-Invests-in-Genie.pdf