The signing of a memorandum of understanding between “Israel”, Egypt and the European Union for the export of Israeli gas to Europe was welcomed by Israel, given the importance of this agreement and its consequences, given that it is a new door. For Israel’s influence at the regional and international levels, especially at the European level.
Israel’s welcome and interest in the event was reflected in positions and statements containing expectations and hopes by Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, after a remarkable silence.
“Europe needs energy now and as soon as possible,” Bennett said during a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, who visited Israel last Tuesday. “We have natural gas in Israel in our economic waters,” Bennett said. And this is good news for Israel, Italy and Europe.
Celebrating the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding in Cairo last Wednesday, Israeli Energy Minister Karen Al-Harar, who represented the Israeli side at the signing ceremony, noted that “the European energy crisis was a great opportunity for Israel for the first time. “Europe should export.”
“This is the first time that Israeli gas has been transported to Europe,” al-Harrar said, adding that “the difficult reality in Europe represents a great opportunity for Israel to export to a place that was not available in the past.” He also spoke more than once at the event, explaining its economic benefits and its political and diplomatic implications for Israel.
“We consider Israel to be a major player in the market,” said Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, given the successive political crises experienced by his coalition. We have become a world energy, for the first time in history, Israel is cooperating with Egypt and exporting Israeli natural gas to the European Union.
Along with the official reception and boasting, the Israeli media read the consequences of this understanding for “Israel” at the economic, financial and political levels. The wide-ranging and diverse media debate revealed the difference in Israel’s approach.
Most of the discussion was about political and strategic consequences. There is a group that underestimated the strategic importance of the agreement and limited its importance to symbolism, estimating that “Israel” would remain a marginal player on the gas issue.
In this regard, Israel Fischer, author of the Israeli newspaper Marker, noted that the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding “is essentially symbolic, as Israel’s gas surplus is limited to European demand.”
The other team, on the other hand, saw the MoU as a lever for regional cooperation and an additional gateway to enter the corridors of influence in continental Europe. Among the team’s supporters is Dor Gold, head of the Jerusalem Center for Public and Governmental Affairs, who acknowledged the political feasibility of the MoU, quoting the economic newspaper Globes. It gives the diplomatic levers more importance than the previous ones, on the one hand it allows it to withstand the pressures and on the other hand it allows it to put pressure on the countries of the old continent.
On the other hand, Israeli circles agree that in any case, “the possibility of exporting Israeli gas to Europe is very limited, for many reasons, including the limited amount of initial production compared to the volume of European demand, including the limited capacity of pipelines. Gas from “Israel” to Egypt, Israeli gas is liquefied in preparation for its transfer to Europe by sea.
“It is clear that Israel has only 1,000 billion cubic meters of its reserves and can provide about 10 billion cubic meters of it annually to Europe,” said Oudd Aran, a researcher at the National Security Research Institute. Give. Follow government decisions to ensure adequate domestic consumption in the coming decades.
“The European crisis is urgent, so extending the pipeline from Israeli waters to Europe does not offer a practical solution to the problem,” Aran added.
“At the domestic level, there is agreement that this understanding will bring financial and economic benefits to Israel,” he said.
“This agreement introduces European companies to Israel to come and compete for the fourth tender, which is the gas exploration tender in Israeli economic waters,” said Al-Harar, the energy minister. .
Source: Lebanon Debate
