Israel plans clean energy ‘Revolution’ in Middle East

As the nation seeks to restore relations with past rivals, two Israeli energy behemoths have revealed ambitions to jointly construct significant renewable energy projects in the Middle East and North Africa.

According to the Israeli Times, Israel's NewMed, former Delek Drilling—the organization responsible for the massive gas discoveries in the Levant Basin—and Enlight Energy plant are launching a "revolution" in renewable energy across the region, focusing on Saudi Arabia and Oman, two nations with which Israel has not officially normalized relations.

Along with Egypt and Jordan, the corporations are also focusing on Morocco, the UAE, and Bahrain.

The Abraham Accords, which were mediated by the US two years ago, saw Israel improve relations with the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco. Israel and the UAE also agreed to a free trade agreement (FTA). Although Israeli media depicts relations with Saudi Arabia and Oman as "warm" and "covert," there hasn't been any official normalization of ties between the two countries.

Israel also fully repaired its relations with Turkey on Wednesday. Turkey has close ties to the MENA area.

Israel and Egypt, which already have gas export contracts in place, struck a new agreement with the European Union in June to enhance gas supplies to the Union as a substitute for Russian gas.

A number of projects, including solar, wind, and energy storage are being planned by NewMed and Enlight for the MENA region. The enormous Tamar and Leviathan gas deposits off the coast of Israel were discovered by NewMed, a seasoned natural resource developer, under the name Delek. Enlight, in contrast, plans and finances clean energy initiatives all around the world.

Yossi Abu, CEO of NewMed Energy, was quoted by the Israeli Times as saying, "Just as we delivered the gas revolution to the countries of the region, so we will endeavor to bring the renewable energy revolution."

Israel's increasing capacity for energy independence as a result of major gas developments in the Mediterranean gives it much more clout for developing diplomatic links. This leads to the normalization of relations with MENA nations.