Israel to "vigorously oppose" Potash deal Yair Lapid, Israel's new finance minister, will "vigorously oppose" Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan's planned takeover of Israel Chemicals, in a move that could derail the biggest deal in the country's history. Mr Lapid, who was swept to power last month in an election campaign dominated by populist themes, also said he planned to call together a public committee that "will review the Israeli state's rights over natural resources that are handled by private firms." "The natural resources of the state of Israel are a public asset," Mr Lapid said in a press release published on Wednesday by his ministry. The Israeli people are the first ones who should have rights over them. IN Chemicals PotashCorp, one of the world's leading fertiliser producers, wants to increase its 14 per cent stake in ICL - Israel's largest industrial company by sales - to a majority because its Dead Sea Works is one of the lowest-cost producers of potash in the world. The Israeli state holds a golden share in the company, which has a market capitalisation of about $17bn, and the Canadians need approval from Benjamin Netanyahu's government to proceed with negotiations. Mr Lapid's remarks will be of concern not only to the Canadians, but also to Israel Corp, the country's largest holding company, which owns 52 per cent of ICL. Israel Corp is controlled by Quantum Pacific Group, the investment vehicle of Idan Ofer, Israel's richest man, who this week declared his intention to move to London. Mr Lapid also said he had updated finance ministry officials about his intention to have a "very firm policy for defending Israel's natural resources." PotashCorp was not immediately available for comment. The popular politician had previously expressed misgivings about the deal, saying it was "not Zionist," would cause job losses and hurt thousands of residents in Israel's south. Mr Lapid rose to fame as a television presenter and won the number two spot in the Knesset, Israel's parliament, for his Yesh Atid party in January's election by promising to help the country's squeezed middle class. Wayne Brownlee, PotashCorp's chief financial officer, told analysts in a conference call in February that the proposed increase to a majority stake would lower the group's freight costs, which make up 40 per cent of its delivered cost to customers. However, ICL's unions have voiced opposition to the deal, expressing fears that the Canadians would outsource some work from ICL to Arab Potash in neighbouring Jordan, a few kilometres away on the other side of the Dead Sea. Additional reporting by Emiko Terazono in London