Publications on Climate, Infrastructure and Energy

On September 27, 2018, Delek Drilling, part of the Israeli-American consortium that owns natural gas concessions in Israel’s exclusive economic zone, announced the purchase of part of the company that owns the pipeline for transporting natural gas from Egypt to Jordan and Israel. As part of the deal, Delek also acquired the exclusive right to operate the 90 km pipeline from el-Arish to Ashkelon. The deal is important for Israel, given that the other options to sell and transport natural gas are now less feasible. It adds...

In recent decades Egypt has suffered from a growing water shortage, and now it must tackle a host of challenges relating to a reliable water supply, the maintenance of water quality, and prevention of water loss from leaking pipes. Egypt’s openness to external assistance in dealing with its water problem, along with the pragmatic line led by President el-Sisi on this subject, creates an opportunity to extend normalization with Israel. Israeli knowhow in the fields of water management, recycling, and desalination technologies,...

Two developments of recent weeks threaten to reduce significantly the possibility of exporting Israel’s natural gas. One is Erdogan’s victory in the Turkish elections and the expansion of his powers, which reduce and perhaps eliminate the chances of an underwater gas pipeline from Israel to Turkey. The second is (unverified) initial reports regarding new gas reserves off the coast of Egypt*, which threaten the existing deal to export gas from Israel to Egypt, as well as Israel’s plan to make use of Egypt’s liquefaction...

In recent years, the EU has set for itself a number of long term objectives to increase its members’ energy security. First and foremost is the desire to reduce dependency on Russia as Europe’s main energy supplier. However, not all EU countries view Russia as a threat to their energy sector, and some, particularly Germany, are actively promoting Russia’s continued energy dominance in Europe. The biggest challenge facing the EU’s quest for higher energy security is how to reconcile the conflicting energy interests and needs of...

The European Union in Turbulent Times: Challenges, Trends, and Signifcance for Israel maps, reviews, and analyzes the urgent issues on the European agenda. The essays in this collection review the political, social, and economic consequences of these issues and assess their significance, both for Europe and for Israel.

The Red Sea, and particularly its southern section surrounding the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, has in recent years become the site of competition and struggle among regional actors and superpowers alike. In addition to the states along the coast of the Red Sea and the Horn of Africa, the US, China, Turkey, Iran – which is involved in the war in Yemen – and sub-state actors have a presence there. Thus far there have been no disruptions to Israeli shipping and flight paths, which connect Israel to the Indian Ocean, the Far East, and Africa....

The fifth issue of Over the Net focuses on three topics in three different arenas: Lebanon, Egypt, and the Gulf states. The first topic deals with the natural gas in the Mediterranean, specifically, the dispute between Lebanon and Israel on drilling in Block 9 in the context of complex Lebanese politics, and the Israeli-Egyptian gas agreement. The second topic highlights the efforts of Middle East actors to promote their agenda using new propaganda tools such as 3D video games and animation technologies. The third topic relates to...

Presumably the government of Israel played an important role in securing the $15 billion natural gas deal signed recently between the owners of Israel’s Tamar and Leviathan fields and the Egyptian Dolphinus Holding. For his part, Egypt’s President el-Sisi stated that with this deal Egypt has gained a foothold in the Eastern Mediterranean, positioned itself as a regional energy center, and “scored a big goal.” The deal, along with the construction of a natural gas pipeline to Jordan, has great strategic value for Israel...

Speaking about border issues between Israel and Lebanon at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) annual conference (January 31, 2018), Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said that the Lebanese government had issued a tender for natural gas exploration in the Mediterranean, including in an area belonging to Israel. His words sparked a fiery response from Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, and the media in both Israel and Lebanon reported that the organization was threatening to attack Israel’s drilling rigs in the...

In the course of 2017, the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) conducted a research study to examine the situation in the Gaza Strip, with a focus on the prevailing political, economic, infrastructural, and security conditions, including their cumulative manifestations and their short term and long term implications. The aim of the project was to provide a knowledge base for reevaluation of Israeli policy toward the region and for an international reconstruction project. Underlying this aim is the understanding that the...

With a link between Gaza’s economic situation and the repeated armed clashes between Israel and Hamas, a sustainable solution to the conflict must address this economic dimension. The solution, which needs to be facilitated by international support, should be at the top of the Israeli government’s agenda before a new war erupts. This article describes briefly the key indicators of the Gaza economy and possible future developments.

This article examines the implications of Gaza’s water crisis for public health. The Strip’s water problems are inseparable from its energy woes; this linkage is addressed in greater detail elsewhere in this collection. The article first reviews the general factors that have worsened Gaza’s water crisis recently; this is followed by an overview of the current domestic water supply and state of water sanitation in Gaza. It then describes water-related risks to public health, particularly chemical and biological contamination, and...