Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi is expecting his Israeli counterpart in Cairo for a ceremonial signing of an economic deal.
It is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s first visit to Egypt in 15 years, and his aides are pitching it as a historic diplomatic milestone and a political win at home, after years of strained ties following the Gaza war and prior geopolitical tension.
At the centre of this visit is a proposed natural gas export transaction worth around $35Billion, positioning Israeli gas as a pillar of regional energy ties and future state revenue.
But the positive spin on this trip masks a deep irony; this project was a source of wrangling among Israeli political elites as recently as three months ago. The planned supply of additional 4.6Trillion cubic feet of gas from the country’s Leviathan field, in an operation that will run until 2040, was agreed in early August 2025 between Chevron, NewMed Energy and Ratio Energy on the one hand and Blue Ocean Energy on the other, marking a significant increase in Egyptian import. While this is a private transaction, the Netanyahu government, citing deep-seated mistrust about military build-up of the Egyptian army in the Sinai Peninsula, instructed that the gas export agreement not move forward without the Prime Minister’s approval, according to Israel Hayom on September 2, 2025. Netanyahu had instructed Energy Minister Eli Cohen to re-examine the Leviathan deal “in light of Egyptian violations of the peace treaty”, the Middle Eastern newspaper Medialine reported on September 9, 2025.
Chevron (operator), NewMed Energy and Ratio Energy are the parties managing the Leviathan gas field off the coast of Israel. Blue Ocean Energy (BOE), a Texas-based independent company, is the entity responsible for purchasing the natural gas from the consortium and distributing it within Egypt.
The United States lobbied in favour of the transaction and while Netanyahu came round to nod to the project, Minister Cohen remained in opposition.
Pumping this significant volume of gas into the Egyptian economy would, crucially, mitigate the steep declines in the country’s gas production. The one-time giant Zohr gas field, operated by Italy’s ENI, has fallen roughly 40% because of technical issues, forcing rationing even as Cairo continues exporting liquefied gas to Europe. Israeli supplies routed through Egyptian LNG terminals have filled the gap.
.Netanyahu wants to present this trip as proof that Israel can deepen peace with Arab neighbours even after the war, and as a showcase of his economic stewardship. Relations have been tense over Gaza, the Rafah crossing, refugees, and border incidents, so a high-profile energy deal would signal that direct cooperation is still possible.
