The Knesset's Finance Committee, headed by MK Moshe Gafni (United Torah Judaism), met Monday to discuss the rise in the cost of electricity and its effects on the economy, in light of the crisis and breakdowns in the electricity supply.
Slamming Energy Minister Yisrael Katz (Likud), Gafni said, "The problems with the electricity have gone and come back. We thought it had become less problematic, but we understood who is at fault. I am a supporter of the Energy Minister, but in the end, it will be on his head."
Sami Turgeman, chairperson of Noga Israel Independent System Operator, said that the decision to purposely disconnect people was due to a "conflict of interest" on the part of the electric company.
"We are in the middle of a moderate season, which is being used for maintenance. The highest demand is in the summer or the winter, and now demand was unusual. The weather has been very extreme," he said.
Turgeman also said that the deviation in demand was small and the scope of the problems from the electric company and other manufacturers was "enormous."
"At the gas stations, there was a reduction in output, and some dropped by around 20% due to the heat. The systems did not manage to cool the air, and so the output dropped - we did not know that all of this could happen," he explained.
Gafni, meanwhile, did not accept the explanation.
"Why did you not operate all of the systems so that the supply of electricity would not cease?" he queried.
Turgeman responded: "That is not our way, to use everything there is. That would cost the electric farms a lot of money."
Gafni countered with an accusation: "There are families, children, and you sit here. You received the authority, and now you are saying that you did not operate [the systems]."