Netanyahu, Anastasiades Met But Have Yet to Reach Unitization Agreement

Cyprus' President Nicos Anastasiades and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met on Friday in Jerusalem for the third time in six months in another effort to advance a unitization agreement between Cyprus and Israel. According to a report by Cyprus News Agency (CNA) progress has been achieved, however, agreement has yet to be concluded.

A unitization agreement is an essential step towards the development of the main natural gas assets of the two countries, Israel's Leviathan field and Cyprus's Aphrodite field. Instead, the two leaders have agreed on a new tripartite committee, which includes representatives from Israel, Cyprus and Greece, that will meet during the third week of January next year in Nicosia.

Regional security and energy issues topped the meeting's agenda. Mr. Netanyahu inquired about the situation of the conflict in Cyprus and the two leaders discussed at length issues concerning the conflict. Solving, or at least a meaningful easing of the conflict, is a crucial step towards improving the prospects of gas export from Israel and Cyprus to Turkey, which following Eni S.p.A's discovery of the huge Zohr natural gas field offshore Egypt, became the most attractive market for both countries.

Mr. Anastasiades was accompanied by Cypriot Foreign Minister, Ioannis Kasoulides, who arrived from Jordan, where he held talks concerning regional cooperation between Jordan, Egypt, Greece and Cyprus. Mr. Netanyahu also serves as the Israeli Foreign Minister. Following the two leaders' private conversation, delegations from the two countries held further talks. In the afternoon, Mr. Anastasiades visited in Ramallah, where he met Mahmud Abbas, the Palestinian President.

Ya'acov Zalel