Netanyahu announces ‘historic’ gas contract with Egypt

Israel has struck a “historic” contract for sales of natural gas to Egypt, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Monday. “This will bring billions of dollars to state coffers,” he said in a statement announcing the deal. Egypt in 1979 became the first Arab state to sign a peace treaty with Israel. The Israeli energy group Delek said the value of the contract was $15 billion, AFP reports. It said agreements have been signed between Delek and its associate Noble Energy of the US to supply 64 billion cubic meters of gas from Israel’s Leviathan and Tamar offshore fields to the Egyptian firm Dolphinus over a 10-year period.