Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz has said experts estimate there are 10,000 to 15,000 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas in the east Mediterranean basin, which includes Israel, Egypt and Cyprus – enough to supply domestic needs as well as Europe.
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The Nicosia Declaration followed Thursday’s trilateral summit between Greek Premier Alexis Tsipras, Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu said they also discussed cooperation in water management, tourism, the hi-tech sector and firefighting as well as search-and-rescue missions in the eastern Mediterranean.
In recent months, Jerusalem, Athens and Nicosia have drastically increased cooperation, especially in the field of energy, but Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel’s rapidly improving ties with Greece and Cyprus do not come at the expense of its relations with other countries in the region, notably Turkey.
“We’re living through great turbulence”, the Israeli premier said, referring to the multiple conflicts in the Middle East.
Israel, Cyprus and Greece decided at their first ever tripartite meeting to set up a steering committee to look into laying a gas pipeline from Israel to Cyprus, and then to Greece for further export to Europe.
Finally, one should not forget who has remained committed to the peace agreements, and who has violated those agreements.
The leaders also discussed plans for an underwater cable to connect the electricity grids of the three countries, he told a news conference after their talks.
After researching practical co-operation methods, the trio implemented joint projects; within the energy industry, focussing on the environment, research and technology, and ways of combating terrorism.
The meeting “aims to establish a permanent framework of countries with a similar world view, shared values and common interests, in order to strengthen stability in the Eastern Mediterranean and promote prosperity”, Netanyahu’s office said in a statement. “It does not depend on our efforts to normalise our relations with Turkey”.
After Greece and Cyprus joined the European Union, they became two of our closest allies in the bloc, supporting our quest for a peaceful political solution, and standing by us when Israel violated its commitments, whether by continuing to expropriate land and water, by destroying the Gaza Strip, or denying us the state we had accepted – on just 22 percent of our original homeland.
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Turkey and Israel enjoyed a “very good relationship” in the past, he continued.
