Israel is part of the new Mediterranean Energy Forum

The energy ministers of Egypt, Israel, Cyprus, Greece, the Palestinian Authority, Italy and Jordan attended a virtual meeting in Cairo on Tuesday to transform the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF) into an intergovernmental regional organisation.

In a joint statement, members said that "they aim to serve as a platform bringing together gas producers, consumers and transit countries to create a shared vision and establish a structured and systematic political dialogue on natural gas".

According to the experts, this step represents a major advance in limiting the ambitions of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with regard to gas in the Eastern Mediterranean, and will also be a card for strong pressure to stop Erdogan's invasions in Cypriot waters.

In addition to the seven main members of the agreement, France is interested in joining as a new member and the United States and the European Union are present as observers, who were also present at the signing on Tuesday, according to The Jerusalem Post.

From 2016, Israel, Cyprus and Greece formed a tripartite forum that considered "the energy sector, and in particular natural gas and renewable energies, as a solid basis for cooperation in the Eastern Mediterranean basin".

In 2017 the Egyptian Energy Minister Tarek al-Mulla and his Israeli counterpart Yuval Steinitz initiated the establishment of the EMGF after the discovery of natural gas off the coast of Israel and Egypt. It was with this new energy relationship that both countries launched a natural gas supply from Israel's Leviathan field to Cairo.

This new organization also includes the formation of a Gas Industry Advisory Committee, an ongoing dialogue between governments and trading partners, in order to monetize gas reserves. In addition, this joint signing can contribute to a further normalisation of the ties between Tel Aviv and the countries of the region, as was the case with the signing of the 'Abraham Agreements' between Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and the Jewish country.

The agency's inaugural declaration states that it "will contribute to the advancement of regional stability and prosperity, creating an atmosphere of trust and neighbourly relations".

This "advancement of stability" is linked to the growing tension in the eastern Mediterranean area between Turkey and Greece over the Exclusive Economic Zone. The discovery a decade ago of this area as being rich in natural gas has led to conflict between Ankara and Athens, which are engaged in a military escalation with shipments of Turkish prospecting ships to the area and Greek army frigates.

These tensions between two members of the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO) have worried Brussels and the EU, which supports its member state, is weighing up a list of sanctions against Turkey.