Netanyahu: Israel to sign major gas pipeline deal in Athens on Thursday
The deal will be signed in Athens at a summit meeting between Netanyahu, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades.
By TOVAH LAZAROFFTHE mammoth Leviathan natural gas pipeline-in-progress.(photo credit: COURTESY OF NOBLE ENERGY)
Israel will sign a historic deal that will allow for the construction of a subsea pipeline to send Israeli gas from the Eastern Mediterranean to Europe, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting.The deal will be signed in Athens at a summit between Netanyahu, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades.“On Thursday, we will hold for the seventh time, a summit with Greece and Cyprus,” Netanyahu said, adding that Energy Ministry Yuval Steintiz would also participate in the meeting.This trilateral partnership is central to our regional policy,” Netanyahu said.“At this meeting we will sign a historic agreement to lay the EastMed gas pipe from Israel to Europe by way of Cyprus and Greece.It will generate great revenues for country’s coiffures that will benefit Israeli citizens, Netanyahu said.The project symbolisms a significant upheaval in which will become an energy power house after years in which it was dependent on imports for its energy supply.In April a trilateral summit was held in Israel on the matter. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo attended the meeting and has given his support to the project.European governments and Israel agreed in April to move to move forward with the Mediterranean pipeline, setting a target date of 2025 for completion.Europe is keen to diversify its energy supplies, and Greece wants to promote itself as a hub for the transit of gas from the eastern Mediterranean to the continent.
