MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th May, 2023) Israel intends to continue working on a project to supply gas to Europe via Cyprus, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday.
Netanyahu said he had met with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides last Thursday and they agreed to continue developing the alliance of Eastern Mediterranean democracies Israel-Cyprus-Greece.
"We built this alliance several years ago and it has very important implications, especially regarding Israel's standing as a major energy power. The project that we focused on is the supply of Israeli gas to Europe via the pipeline from our gas field to a huge liquefaction facility that will be built in Cyprus. This link will jump the Israeli economy forward to new heights and will strengthen Israel's standing as an important international energy supplier," Netanyahu said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting.
He opined that efficient and inexpensive gas deliveries from his country to Europe will "greatly strengthen Israel's standing."
In early 2020, Greece, Cyprus, and Israel agreed to construct the EastMed pipeline to bring natural gas from Israel's Leviathan field and Cyprus' Aphrodite field to Greece, and further on to Italy and other southeastern European countries. The United States initially backed the project as it could reduce Europe's dependence on Russian gas supplies, but soon backtracked, citing environmental issues, the project's financial shortcomings and the risk of tensions in the region, as Ankara has been very critical of the plan.
