Source: Jerusalem Post
By Emmanuel Navon
The announcement in November that Israel, Cyprus, Greece and Italy have agreed to build a natural gas pipeline (the longest in the world) from Israel’s offshore gas fields to Europe, clearly indicates that Israel has chosen the Greek option over the Turkish one.
In the past, Israel had considered a pipeline to Europe via Turkey, but the idea was dropped in favor of the Greek option.
Building a natural gas pipeline via Turkey would have been cheaper and more viable economically, but it became politically unfeasible due to Turkey’s hostile policy toward Israel, Cyprus and Greece.
Natural gas has turned Greece from a rival to an ally just as relations between Israel and Turkey started deteriorating. Israel discovered the huge Leviathan gas field in 2009, shortly before the 2010 MV Marmara incident, which contributed to the rift between Israel and Turkey.
In 2010, Benjamin Netanyahu became the first sitting Israeli prime minister to visit Greece, and the Israeli and Greek air forces started their first joint military exercises. In September 2011, Israel and Greece signed a security cooperation agreement. Israel now uses Greek airspace for training purposes.
Read more at: https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/East-Mediterranean-partnership-signals-an-energy-revolution-573287