The EU is stepping up efforts to boost its energy cooperation with Israel as it fights “Russian energy blackmail,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday.
The EU has been looking for ways to reduce its dependence on Russian fossil fuels since Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine earlier this year, and Israel, which has discovered large offshore gas resources in recent years, is willing to help the bloc diversify its energy supply. .
Von der Leyen said the EU was continuing preparations on two “major” infrastructure projects designed to strengthen energy links with Israel: a gas and hydrogen pipeline in the eastern Mediterranean and a submarine power cable linking Israel with Cyprus and Greece.
“Since the beginning of the war, Russia has deliberately cut off its gas supply to Poland, Bulgaria, Finland, Dutch companies, Danish companies in retaliation for our support of Ukraine,” von der Leyen said in a statement. visit to a university in southern Israel.
“But the Kremlin’s behavior only reinforced our decision to free ourselves from our dependence on Russian fossil fuels.”
Mario Draghi, left, and Naftali Bennett at the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem on Tuesday © AP
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett also spoke about energy cooperation with Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, who paid his own visit to Israel on Tuesday.
But in light of the complexity of the development of Mediterranean gas resources, Bennett also criticized Lebanese leaders for “unnecessary disputes.” This follows a dispute between the two countries, which have no diplomatic relations, over a disputed offshore gas field.
A U.S. State Department official, Amos Hochstein, is in Beirut this week to help mediate the dispute, after a ship operated by London-based Greek oil and gas explorer Energean arrived in London. Karish site on June 5th. The company said its gas platform was expected to begin production there during the third quarter. While Israel says the camp is in an area recognized by the UN as its exclusive economic zone, Lebanon says the area is in dispute.
U.S.-negotiated talks between the two countries stalled last year after Lebanese negotiators proposed a new maritime border, which significantly expanded the territory it claimed at the expense of Israel.
Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Iran-backed Lebanon Hezbollah, said earlier this month that his group was ready to act if Israel began drilling before reaching an agreement.
The powerful political and paramilitary force has fought several wars with Israel, and Nasrallah has previously said that he would protect Lebanon’s economic rights by force.
Israel’s energy and defense ministers said last week that the platform was in Israeli waters and would not pump gas from the disputed territory. But they warned that Israel “prioritizes the protection of its strategic assets and is willing to defend them and the security of its infrastructure.”
Lebanese media reports suggest the government was preparing to offer a compromise to resolve the dispute, which could include abandoning the claim of the enlarged maritime border or moving Karish to another nearby camp, Qana.
Asked about the possibility of an exchange, Hochstein told US-backed Al Hurra television that Lebanon is “looking at what kind of compromise can be reached that Israelis can accept and not feel like.” [they are] being pushed against something against their interests, while preserving the most important part of Lebanon’s interests. “