Von der Leyen and Draghi are due to hold energy talks in Israel, which has turned from a natural gas importer into an exporter in recent years because of major offshore finds.
Israeli Energy Minister Karine Elharrar and other officials have said their country could help meet EU demand if it can deliver gas from its offshore reserves estimated at nearly 1,000 billion cubic meters, but getting Israeli gas to Europa
...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
is fraught with challenges and would require major and long-term infrastructure investments.
Further complicating Israel's offshore gas production is a long-running maritime border dispute with
...In 2020 Hezbollah blew up a considerable portion of Beirut and many of its inhabitants when its ammonium nitrate facility exploded. They blamed it on... somebody else. It wasn't them though. Trust them on that. And it ain't never coming to trial...The neighbors technically remain at war but have agreed to U.S.-mediated talks aimed at delineating the border to allow both countries to boost exploration.
Talks broke down last year but Israel has urged Lebanon to re-engage.
Tensions flared this month following a Lebanese claim that Israeli production was taking place in contested waters.
Israel countered that the area was located clearly south of the disputed zone.