Publications

The discourse in Egypt and Jordan on the gas deals with Israel has demonstrated internal disagreements between the regimes and the oppositions, as well as some of the public, surrounding normalization. Moreover, it has demonstrated the limited influence of the international BDS movement on interactions between Israel and its neighbors. The willingness of the Jordanian and Egyptian governments to promote the gas deals despite disagreements and criticism indicates the heavy weight of economic considerations in shaping relations between the sides at this time. The mutual dependence that has formed between Israel and the two countries and the mutual advantages that the gas deals offer have allowed shared interests to overcome the traditional political and cultural barriers to developing relationships, albeit for only a specific and limited issue. Cooperation between Israel and its neighbors on the gas issue is likely to deepen in the coming years and might extend to include Israeli gas exports to Turkey and the creation of Arab-Israeli partnerships with Cyprus and Greece. At the same time, Israel must take into account that just as the economic consideration served as a trigger to promote the gas deals between Israel and its neighbors, it may in the future serve as grounds to break off relations. This warning, however, is not a rebuke; from the verymoment that economic interests become the be-all and end-all of relations between countries, that is the very essence of normal relations.