Recent years have witnessed a notable improvement in Israel’s strategic, military, political – and soon, perhaps, economic as well – balance. Partly the result of careful planning, this trend is also due to regional developments that have led Israel’s neighbors to believe that Israel has the ability to promote their interests. Geographically, the new strategic arc spans Egypt in the south to Greece in the northwest. This area is far from monolithic, encompassing different strains and even historical enmities, including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with its problematic Gaza component, as well as the Arab-Israeli conflict, especially its Lebanese and Syrian aspects.

To Egypt, the regional upheavals, particularly the internal shockwaves as well as its worsening economic woes, have highlighted the importance of cooperation with Israel. Cooperation is critical for security, most notably in terms the regime’s efforts to fight terrorism instigated by domestic and foreign Islamic movements, especially in the Sinai Peninsula. Uprooting terrorism in Egypt and strengthening the regime are patent Israeli interests. Moreover, Egypt and Israel have shared interests regarding the Gaza Strip, although neither nation has succeeded in building a joint strategy that would address the terrorism emerging from Gaza and also create an economic and infrastructural plan that could serve as a framework for a long term solution for that region. Egypt’s need to find an alternate natural gas supplier until its own natural gas reserves are developed is a strong common economic interest. An Egyptian purchase of Israeli natural gas or use by Israel’s gas producers of liquefaction facilities on Egyptian soil would greatly help finance and realize Israel’s natural gas potential. Cooperation on gas between Egypt and Israel as well as on economic solutions for the Gaza Strip would also allow good use of the natural gas located in the Gaza Strip’s economic zone.

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