The 98-metre (322 foot) high structure is designed to support the giant offshore oil platform's deck and "topsides" - heavy equipment and facilities kept above the water line. The jacket was built in Texas and arrived over the weekend on a huge barge after a 28-day journey across the Atlantic, according to US firm Noble Energy and its Israeli partner Delek, the Leviathan consortium's lead partners.
The government statement quoted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking on board a ship near the platform. "Completion of the Leviathan gas platform and the pumping of gas from this field later in the year is a critical component of the strategic, energy, economic and diplomatic strength of the State of Israel," he said.
"A gas pipeline will run from here and will link us to the gas economy of Europe. It will reach our Arab neighbours." Leviathan will also supply "clean energy" to Israel that will replace coal and boost the state's coffers with "billions of shekels," Netanyahu said.