The eastern Mediterranean has yielded major gas
discoveries in the past decade, mostly off Israel and Egypt, with interest
rising since Russia's invasion of Ukraine hit flows to Europe.
"We will have to decide soon about how Israel exports
its gas and the same decisions have to be made by Cyprus. We are looking at the
possibility of cooperating on this," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu told reporters in Nicosia after a tripartite summit with Greek Prime
Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides.
"Those decisions will be made, I think, in the next
three to six months, probably closer to three months," he said.
Earlier this year, Cyprus suggested expediting gas
to market by the creation of a short pipeline linking Israel's east
Mediterranean gas fields to a liquefaction facility on Cyprus, which could then
be shipped to Europe.
"We agree that natural gas and renewable energy is a
prime pillar of cooperation in the region, especially in light of the recent
geopolitical developments," Christodoulides said. "Especially in
Europe, (it) dictates the need for energy diversification and increased
interconnectivity," he said.
Netanyahu said Israel was also "eagerly pursuing"
being part of a planned subsea electricity link. The European Union-supported
EuroAsia Interconnector subsea cable is envisaged to carry up to 2,000
megawatts of electricity to eventually link grids from Israel and Cyprus to
Greece.
"We would like to have it connected obviously to
Israel, and possibly to the east of Israel," Netanyahu said.
The three countries have built strong bonds over the years,
and Netanyahu said one direct example of economic bonding was through food.
"We like your food," he interjected off script as
Mitsotakis finished speaking. "We like your dairy products. We like your
yoghurt."
Netanyahu said authorities would soon open the country's
dairy product market, which now protects local production with high import
duties.
"We intend to open the dairy market very soon to Greek
and Cypriot—and other—imports. May the best yoghurt win. You have a pretty good
chance at winning."
