Netanyahu says Saudi-Israeli agreement could enable energy corridor between Europe and India
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is visiting Cyprus, optimistically envisioned that a potential Saudi-Israeli agreement would facilitate the establishment of a strategic energy corridor between Europe and India via the Middle East.
“There is now the possibility that we might have the expansion of the Abraham Accords to normalization with Saudi Arabia,” Netanyahu told journalists during a meeting with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in the Cypriot capital Nicosia.
The Israeli prime minister announced that a new electricity connector “is being organized right now from mainland Greece to Crete to Cyprus.”
Israel is geographically close to Cyprus and constitutes a natural gateway to the wider Middle East region and beyond.
Netanyahu’s intercontinental energy cooperation proposal is based on the Jewish state’s strategic location at the intersection between Europe, Asia and Africa.
In addition, Israel’s significant offshore natural gas deposits and strong ties with India, Cyprus and Greece as well as a growing number of Middle Eastern states, further increase the prospects for realizing this long-term vision.
As a leading Middle Eastern nation and global energy exporter, Saudi Arabia could become a key component in this future energy corridor that would stretch from Europe to India.
In early August, Saudi Arabia and the United States reportedly agreed on the broad outline for diplomatic normalization with the Jewish state. In order to secure such as coveted diplomatic agreement, Jerusalem would likely be required to offer significant concessions to the Palestinian Authority.
Meanwhile, a delegation of senior American officials is traveling to Saudi Arabia this week to further facilitate a potential diplomatic breakthrough between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
The All Israel News Staff is a team of journalists in Israel.
