Israel’s Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu and Energy Minister Israel Katz were this week talking gas collaboration with Israel’s East Med neighbors. PM Netanyahu visited Nicosia on 4 September for the latest Cyprus-Greece-Israel tripartite meeting. Mr Katz, meanwhile, held telephone conversations with his Turkish counterpart Alparslan Bayraktar, as the two countries continue to improve their bilateral relations following years in the deep freeze. Mr Netanyahu plans to visit Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the coming months.

The talks in Cyprus focused largely on the energy sector “and in particular natural gas, electricity and renewable energy,” a joint statement following the meeting read. The three countries are hoping to link their power grid as part of the EuroAsia Interconnector, with Norway’s Nexans in July awarded a key $1.6bn EPCI contract for the HVDC cable that will link Cyprus and Greece (MEES, 21 July). (CONTINUED - 1058 WORDS)