Israeli Licence to Cheney-Linke Energy Firm on Golan Heights Raises Eyebrows

By Jim Lobe | http://www.iede.co.uk/news/2013_1064/israeli-licence-cheney-linke-energy-firm-golan-heights-raises-eyebrows

WASHINGTON, Feb 23 2013 (IPS) - In a potential new source of contention between President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel has reportedly granted a U.S. energy firm with heavyweight political connections to explore for oil and gas in the occupied Golan Heights.
The company is a local subsidiary of New Jersey-based Genie Energy Ltd. The Strategic Advisory Board of another subsidiary, Genie Oil and Gas, includes former Vice President Dick Cheney, media magnate Rupert Murdoch, and former Republican Rep. Jim Courter.
It also includes several prominent investment managers, such as Jacob Rothschild, chairman of the J. Rothschild group, and Michael Steinhardt, a major contributor to Jewish and Zionist causes, notably Birthright Israel, a multi-million-dollar programme to bring young Diaspora Jews to Israel.
By their own admission, the Israeli government says it’s occupied territory. So why would they invest millions of dollars in occupied territory?