On August 31, 2015, Italian energy company Eni announced it had discovered massive natural gas deposits in Egypt's Exclusive Economic Zone in the Mediterranean Sea. Our southern neighbor celebrated the Zohr natural gas field, and rightly so – after years of a difficult energy crisis following the political instability of the so-called Arab Spring in 2011, the future finally looked bright.
The Egyptian celebration was also an opportunity for all in Israel who took part in the relentless war against Israel's gas framework deal that was finalized in 2016 to celebrate, believing that the discovery of Egyptian gas would end the controversial project to develop Israel's own large Leviathan offshore gas reserve and keep Israel's natural gas buried under the sea.
Since Israel's gas deal was approved in mid-2016, all the doomsday prophecies have been dispelled, one after another. The developers of Leviathan, Israel's Delek Group and the American Noble Energy, decided to invest $3.75 billion in addition to the billion they already invested. By the end of 2019, the gas from Leviathan will be flowing to Israel. In the meantime, the rights to Israel's neighboring Tanin and Karish gas reserves were sold to the Greek oil and gas company Energean, creating strong competition to tilt market conditions in the consumers' favor.
In addition, contrary to the pessimistic predictions, a massive natural gas contract worth $15 billion over the course of a decade was recently signed. Egypt, it seems, still needs Israeli gas, despite its own vast reserves. It is no less than a win-win situation: The revenue generated by Israel's gas exports will give Israeli investors the capital they need to develop the local fields. At the same time, the flow of gas will pull Egypt out of the crisis that has been bogging it down since 2011. Egypt will also recommission the liquefaction plants that have been standing vacant for years to process the natural gas. Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has hit a home run, as he described it.
Monday marks 39 years since Israel and Egypt signed a peace agreement (March 26, 1979). Although a cold peace, sometimes even frozen, has characterized relations in recent years, this peace has secured strategic security for the State of Israel in an irrational and paranoid region. It is not too far-fetched to anticipate that long-term business, dependent on direct and intensive contact between individuals in Cairo and Tel Aviv, to contribute to thawing the frozen relations between the two countries.
The gas pipelines from Israel also provide power to Jordan's National Electric Power Company, our great neighbor to the east, following a deal signed in September 2016 worth some $10 billion over a 15 year period. Even with the Palestinian Authority, despite the bad blood between us, coordination on gas and energy is not a pipe dream. Moreover, regional connections with Cyprus and Greece, which have become international players along with us, will allow all of us to enjoy and maximize the benefits of our gas reserves.
I don't understand why the signing of the gas export agreement with Egypt, which will generate massive profits, of which 60% will be deposited directly into the state coffers, isn't being celebrated as a holiday for the economy and for peace. While the entire world recognizes the importance of Israel's massive gas discoveries, which contribute immeasurably to Israel's economic and diplomatic strength, the residents of the Jewish state itself have turned this treasure into a source of discord and contempt. Perhaps, after having lived in an atmosphere of dispute and harsh criticism for months and years, the opponents' arguments are nothing but sparks coming out of a fire of hate. They are incapable of feeling joy for the state or hailing its successes. But Israel is putting its foot on the gas and speeding toward peace. That is a fact.
