![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/2025121944e264fa4a22471790719e0d4be32675_CcrbeeE000003_20251219_CBMFN0A001.JPG\"\/)
This file picture shows the Leviathan gas platform of Noble Energy under construction in the Mediterranean Sea, some 10 kilometers off the Israeli coast, on Jan. 31, 2019. (Xinhua\/Marc Israel Sellem-JINI)\u00a0<\/p>\nThis file picture shows the Leviathan gas platform of Noble Energy under construction in the Mediterranean Sea, some 10 kilometers off the Israeli coast, on Jan. 31, 2019. (Xinhua\/Marc Israel Sellem-JINI)\u00a0<\/p>\n
CAIRO, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) — Egypt’s State Information Service (SIS) said Thursday that the recently announced natural gas deal with Israel is strictly commercial and carries no political implications, dismissing media reports that suggested otherwise.<\/p>\n
In a statement, SIS Chairman Diaa Rashwan said the deal is “a purely commercial transaction” based on economic and investment considerations, involving international energy companies such as U.S.-based Chevron and specialized Egyptian firms, without “direct government intervention.”<\/p>\n
He said the deal supports Egypt’s strategic aim of cementing its position as a regional gas trading hub, underpinned by advanced liquefaction plants and gas transport infrastructure.<\/p>\n
Rashwan cautioned against what he called “hostile media campaigns” that seek to politicize the deal, noting that its timing does not change its commercial nature.<\/p>\n
He also reiterated Egypt’s “firm and unwavering” stance on the Palestinian cause, including support for a two-state solution and opposition to forced displacement, highlighting Egypt’s diplomatic role in Gaza reconstruction efforts.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had approved a gas deal worth 112 billion shekels (about 34.7 billion U.S. dollars) under which Israel will supply natural gas to Egypt, calling it “the largest gas deal in Israel’s history.”<\/p>\n
Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen, speaking alongside Netanyahu, described the approval of the agreement as “a historic moment” for Israel, both diplomatically and economically.<\/p>\n
Back in August, Egyptian authorities clarified that the deal is an amendment to an earlier agreement in 2019, extending Israeli gas supply to Egypt until 2040.\u00a0 \u25a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This file picture shows the Leviathan gas platform of Noble Energy under construction in the Mediterranean Sea, some…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":191673,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[5543,101904,85,46,43],"class_list":["post-191672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-egypt","tag-gas-deal","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191672"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191672\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/191673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}