Egypt cancels agreement to supply Israel with natural gas

The Egyptian government have informed Israel of their decision to cancel an agreement to supply them with natural gas signed by the previous regime. The cancelled agreement provides Israel with Egyptian gas at rates lower than global export prices.

On Sunday night, sources inside the Israeli Foreign Ministry confirmed to Hebrew Radio that Egypt had informed Israel of its ‘unilateral’ decision to cancel the agreement to supply them with gas.

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Israeli press sources suggest that the Egyptian step is intended to pressure Ampal, the Israeli company which decided to file a lawsuit against the Egyptian government for failing to adhere to the terms of the agreement. However, in the first official statement from Ampal regarding the decision, the company clarified that it is “looking into how to deal with the matter, whether on a legal or political level.”

The online version of the Israeli newspaper, Ha’aretz, reports sources close to the company as saying “Egypt is neither aware of, nor understands what to do. A step like this takes Egyptian-Israeli relations back 30 years; both politically and economically, and there is talk of a breach to the signed peace agreement.”

Meanwhile, leader of the Israeli opposition, Shaul Mofaz MK, described Egypt’s announcement as “unprecedented”  in terms of its seriousness for Egypt-Israel relations. Hebrew Radio also quoted Mofaz as saying the Egyptian move constitutes a, “breach of the Egypt-Israel peace agreement; a matter which requires an immediate US response as a sponsor of the Camp David Accords.”