Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to stress that his country’s strategic alliance with Greece and Cyprus runs deep and will not be affected by Israel’s rapprochement with Turkey during today’s Trilateral Summit in Nicosia, whose agenda will include talks on all major east Mediterranean projects, current and prospective.

In statements made yesterday, Netanyahu noted decisions need to be reached to enable Israeli gas exports to the West, while making clear he will focus on two projects, the East Med gas pipeline and a liquefaction plant in Cyprus, during today’s meeting with Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Cypriot president Nikos Christodoulides.

The East Med gas pipeline plan has been put on hold as a result of unfavorable developments over the past couple of years, but Greece and Cyprus have never abandoned the project.

Israel’s leader is determined to press ahead with plans facilitating the transportation of Israeli natural gas to European markets. Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, meanwhile, considers a Turkish transit route for these Israeli gas exports to be of utmost importance.

The outlook on Turkish-Israeli ties currently remains unclear. Some clarity may be offered when Netanyahu soon visits Ankara. He is likely to make clear to his Turkish counterpart that the improvement in ties between Turkey and Israel, as well as between Greece and Turkey, will not undermine the strategic alliance developed over recent years between Greece, Israel and Cyprus.