Israel, Egypt strengthen energy ties

The visit of Minister of Energy Yuval Steinitz to Egypt July 25 for the natural gas forum, attended by regional energy ministers, highlights the continued warming in relations between Israel and Egypt under its leader President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. In January, Steinitz visited Cairo for the first regional natural gas forum. During his current visit, Steinitz received an official reception that included exceptional gestures on the part of the hosts: a press conference with Sisi himself and a visit to the pyramids at Giza, with the press in tow.   

The estimate is that the high media profile given to the visit stems, among other things, from the American patronage as part of President Donald Trump’s “deal of the century” and the economic workshop in Bahrain June 25, where a significant cornerstone was laid on the way to overt normalization between Israel and the pragmatic Sunni states, including on issues dealing with the energy industry, on which the Gulf states' economy is based.