On January 15, 2020, Israeli Minister of Energy Yuval Steinitz and his Egyptian counterpart, Tarek el-Molla, announced that natural gas began to flow from Israel to Egypt. The joint announcement marks a milestone in relations between the countries, and gives further expression to the significant rise in the importance of the Mediterranean basin for Egypt’s foreign, security, and economic policy in recent years. Israel has an interest in broadening the range of its relations with Egypt, and it has the ability to promote this aim through the formulation of various policies affecting aspects of the Mediterranean region.
