Source: The Institute for National Security Studies
Author(s): Ofir Winter
Original Link: https://www.inss.org.il/publication/under-mediterranean-skies-channels-for-deepening-israel-egypt-relations/?offset=0&posts=undefined&outher=undefined&from_date=undefined&to_date=undefined
On January 15, 2020, Minister of Energy Yuval Steinitz and his Egyptian counterpart, Tarek el-Molla, announced that natural gas began to flow from Israel to Egypt. The joint announcement marks a milestone in relations between the countries, and gives further expression to the significant rise in the importance of the Mediterranean basin for Egypt’s foreign, security, and economic policy in recent years. This trend was also evident in the agenda of the World Youth Forum held in December 2019 in Sharm el-Sheikh and included discussions on a range of Mediterranean topics, from energy and climate, through unemployment and illegal migration, to the identity of Mediterranean peoples. Israel is not absent from the Mediterranean discourse promoted by Egypt, although it remains a marginal issue on subjects other than natural gas. Israel has an interest in broadening the range of its relations with Egypt, and it has the ability to promote this aim through the formulation of policies affecting various aspects of the Mediterranean region, increasing its involvement in Mediterranean regional frameworks, and nurturing an ethos of a “common region.”
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