Natural gas agreement with Israel will promote regional stability, study suggests

The agreement to export natural gas from Israeli fields to Egypt has great strategic value for Israel and will improve regional stability, Sonia Gorodeisky writes for Globes. “In the new reality created, any damage by Hezbollah or Hamas to Israel's ability to produce gas will also affect the supply of electricity to Jordan, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority … [this interest] will become an important component in the intelligence and security cooperation with neighboring countries in identifying and preventing sabotage, and a catalyst for them to seek calm if fighting breaks out with one of these organizations,” according to a study by the Institute for National Security Studies. A researcher said the agreement could also “improve the balance of power in the Middle East and stability with Lebanon and the Palestinian Authority, and ease the Iranian threat.”