Money talks...
Netanyahu approves $35bn natural gas export deal to Egypt
Prime Minister Netanyahu said he has approved a $35bn natural gas export deal to Egypt, the biggest gas deal in Israeli history. The gas will be delivered to Egypt over the next 15 years by US energy giant Chevron, a key owner of the gas field off Israel’s coast in the Mediterranean Sea.
Half of the proceeds are expected to go to Israel’s state coffers.
Netanyahu said the deal “greatly strengthens Israel’s position as a regional energy power, and it contributes to stability in our region”.
Egypt, which borders both Israel and Gaza, has served as a key mediator between Israel and Hamas, leading up to the US-brokered ceasefire that was agreed on in October.
Cairo has also has been a vocal critic of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, which has killed more than 73,000 people and caused widespread destruction in Gaza.
Egypt did not immediately confirm Netanyahu’s announcement.
Gas field off Gaza's coast....
Israel-Egypt gas deal ‘surprising’ given Cairo’s criticism of Gaza genocide: Analyst
Stephen Zunes, a professor at the University of San Francisco, says the question is why Egypt agreed to buy natural gas from Israel instead of from other countries in the region.
“I think the answer is that the United States, which has a lot of leverage on Egypt given the enormous amount of economic aid [it provides Cairo], has basically pressured them into this deal,” Zunes told Al Jazeera.
“This is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to try to integrate Israel economically into the region and therefore lessen the leverage Arab states might have in support of the Palestinian cause.”
He added that the deal is not likely to go over well in Egypt and the wider Arab world.
“The Egyptians are dealing with a genuine energy shortage, and they are pretty desperate for some relief in this regard.”
US Senate passes defence bill that includes $600m for Israel
The legislation has authorised $600m in security assistance for the top US ally.
That includes funding for joint missile defence programmes, a measure that has long drawn broad bipartisan support in Congress.
But despite continued US support for Israel overall, American lawmakers from both major parties have increasingly questioned unconditional US military assistance to the country as it wages a genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza. Rights advocates have also been pushing Washington to suspend weapons sales to Israel amid the Gaza war.
For more on the newly passed US defence bill, which now goes to Trump to be signed into law, check out our story here.
