"Exploratory US-Israeli oil drilling begun in Golan Heights", 18 February 2015

After lengthy delays, exploratory oil drilling began this week in the southern Golan Heights, according to a statement by the US-based oil exploration company Genie Energy. On Tuesday, hundreds of residents of the area, together with representatives of environmental organizations, protested outside the Afek Oil and Gas facility, a subsidiary of Genie Energy, which was granted approval by the Israeli government last September to drill up to 10 wells over the next three years... Drilling was supposed to start mid-January, but was delayed by opposition of environmental groups. The Israeli Supreme Court ruled in late December that despite the environmentalists concerns, the drilling could go ahead so as long as it was exploratory.