“Let me tell you something that we Israelis have against Moses. He took us 40 years through the desert in order to bring us to the one spot in the Middle East that has no oil!”  Golda Meir

The Jewish people have been yearning to return to their biblical homeland since the destruction of the First Temple in 586 BCE. The turmoil in the Middle East would not have existed if it wasn’t for oil.

“We were casting them by thousands into the fire to the worst of deaths, not to win the war but that the oil of Mesopotamia might be ours.” T.E Lawrence aka Lawrence of Arabia

In this quote, Lawrence of Arabia expresses his regret and “bitter shame” over the true motivations behind the British campaign in the Middle East during World War I. He felt that the British government had betrayed their Arab allies by reneging on promises of self-rule in favor of securing their own colonial interests, particularly control over valuable resources like the oil reserves in the Middle East.

For the Jews it has always been about returning to their homeland.  For the rest of the world it has always been about oil.

Golda must be smiling down upon us as the smoke she exhales clears and she views how the world has changed for Israel since the Oil Embargo in 1974.

This past week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu officially approved a historic $35 billion natural gas deal with Egypt. Israel‘s natural gas export sector reached a historic milestone with the final approval of the largest energy deal in the country’s history. This development solidifies Israel’s position as a critical regional energy hub, primarily supplying neighboring Egypt and Jordan.

Jordan remains a consistent recipient of Israeli gas via pipeline, primarily to meet its domestic electricity needs.  While relying on Israeli piped gas, Jordan secured the Energos Force Floating Storage Regasification Unit (FSRU) in August 2025 at the port of Aqaba to enhance its own import flexibility and security.

Israel’s Primary Export Plan: Via Egypt 

The main strategy involves leveraging existing and expanded infrastructure to send Israeli gas to Europe through

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)