TEL AVIV, December 18. /TASS/. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to approve a record gas supply agreement with Egypt worth 112 billion shekels ($34.6 billion) came under heavy pressure from the US, which wants to see relations between the two Middle Eastern countries improve, the Axios portal reported citing sources.
According to the source, the Trump administration has been pressing Natanyahu for several weeks to approve the deal as part of an effort to improve relations with Egypt after the Gaza war.
Washington had been pressing Netanyahu to approve the deal for a long time. The US administration expects that the contract will strengthen Israel and Egypt's interdependence and ensure a warming of relations, which remain strained due to the conflict in the Gaza Strip. The US also pressured Israel to protect the interests of the American company Chevron, which is developing the Leviathan field, gas from which is to be supplied to Egypt under the agreement.
In the near future the White House hopes to organize a trilateral meeting between Prime Minister Netanyahu and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who have not directly communicated since the escalation of the conflict in Gaza in autumn of 2023.
However, the Egyptian side is still skeptical about the prospect of such a meeting, demanding greater progress from Israel in achieving a peaceful resolution to the situation in the Palestinian enclave, Axios points out.
Netanyahu announced his approval of the gas supply agreement on December 17. According to him, the agreement envisages large-scale investments in gas infrastructure and was concluded with the participation of the American company Chevron and Israeli partners. The agreement to supply natural gas to Egypt from the Leviathan field was initially signed in August, but was awaiting approval from Israeli authorities. When criticizing the deal Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen cited the problem of domestic gas prices in Israel and diplomatic disagreements with Cairo. As Dmitry Gendelman, an adviser to the Israeli Prime Minister's Office, stated in August, the reserves of Israel's Leviathan gas field offshore the Mediterranean Sea are estimated to hold up to 600 billion cubic meters of natural gas. According to the Israeli side, this is a "strategic asset capable of changing the region's energy balance."