Israel Approves $35 Billion Natural Gas Export Deal With Egypt
Valued at 112 billion shekels ($34.7 billion USD), the agreement will see 130 billion cubic meters of natural gas exported from Israel’s offshore Leviathan field to Egypt through 2040
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives opening remarks during a press conference with President Donald Trump conference in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, DC on September 29, 2025. Photo by Anadolu Images.
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sraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Wednesday that Israel has approved a $35 billion natural gas export agreement with Egypt, calling it the largest gas deal in the country’s history.
Valued at 112 billion shekels, the agreement will see 130 billion cubic meters of natural gas exported from Israel’s offshore Leviathan field to Egypt through 2040. Deliveries will be carried out by U.S. energy giant Chevron, which operates the field alongside Israel’s NewMed Energy Partnership and Ratio Oil Exploration.
Netanyahu said in a televised statement that the deal would strengthen Israel’s position as a regional energy power and contribute to stability in the Middle East. He added that the agreement ensures gas will also be sold domestically at favorable prices for Israeli consumers. About half of the proceeds are expected to go to Israel’s state treasury.
Egyptian authorities have not issued an official confirmation of the agreement.
Deal follows months of political tension
Reports of the agreement had circulated for months amid diplomatic strains between Israel and Egypt. Israeli media previously reported that Netanyahu had delayed approval of the deal amid Israeli allegations—denied by Cairo—that Egypt violated the 1979 peace treaty by increasing military deployments in the Sinai Peninsula.
The agreement expands an existing gas export arrangement signed in 2019. Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen, who had earlier opposed the deal’s terms, stood alongside Netanyahu during the announcement and said he now supports the final agreement.
Egypt has played a key mediating role during the war in Gaza and the U.S.-brokered ceasefire reached in October, while also criticizing Israel’s military offensive that has caused widespread destruction in the enclave.
Israel discovered significant natural gas reserves in the Mediterranean Sea in the early 2000s and began exporting gas nearly a decade ago, first to Jordan and later to Egypt. The latest agreement further deepens energy cooperation between the two countries despite ongoing political tensions in the region.
(Source: Anadolu Agency and the Associated Press)
