Turkish-Israeli pipeline deal on the way?

"We could have Israeli gas in Turkey in the next three to four years," said Shaul Meridor, the Israeli Energy Ministry's director general, at the eighth annual Atlantic Council Istanbul Summit. 

The delegations have been engaged in very constructive talks in the last couple of months, Meridor says, noting that a deal between the two governments could occur soon, once the technical and commercial aspects of the pipeline project to transport Israeli gas to Europe via Turkey are agreed upon.

When the energy ministers of both countries met on the sidelines of the World Energy Congress in October 2016 - which also marked the first ministerial-level visit since a reconciliation deal following the Mavi Marmara incident of 2010 - they agreed to establish working dialogue to explore the possibilities of carrying Israeli gas from the Leviathan gas field to Turkey via an undersea pipeline. This proposed pipeline would then be connected to the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) and thus reach European markets.

Since the discovery of the Tamar gas field and, even more so, the rich Leviathan reservoir, Israel has been considering various options to export its gas, including one plan to ship it via LNG terminals in Egypt, another to export it through a pipeline via Cyprus, Greece and Italy and a third to send it via Turkey. 

Although the Turkish route has been highlighted as the most profitable one, the project is not without its political difficulties. Given the fact that the only viable route for the pipeline crosses Cyprus' Exclusive Economic Zone, a political settlement on the island is seen as a pre-condition for the pipeline project so as to avoid a diplomatic crisis.

But today's positive tone on the part of Israeli representatives...