A proposal by Energy and Water Minister Uzi Landau to connect the Phoenicia glass factory in northern Israel to a gas pipeline was approved by the government. The connection was likely to take place by 2014, Landau's office said.

The move would reduce the energy costs for the factory, and help it to develop a plan to ensure its ability to function. The plant's current owners have said that they will have to shut it down unless the government rescues it.