U.S. and Israel Sign Energy Agreement

The Israeli Minister of National Infrastructure, Energy and Water Resources, Dr Yuval Steinitz, and the U.S. Secretary of Energy, Dr Ernest Moniz, signed an energy cooperation agreement on Monday.

The agreement is an amendment to an existing agreement between the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Israeli Ministry of National Infrastructure, and it is expected to further enhance cooperation between the two countries. 

The agreement expands cooperative efforts between the parties for exploration, production and distribution technologies for fossil and alternative fuels; research and development for natural gas, transmission, distribution and smart grid technologies; water desalination and treatment facilities; and physical and cyber protection of energy and water infrastructure.

The agreement also recognizes the importance of developing advanced energy and water technologies to secure water and power supplies while protecting the environment and increasing energy efficiency within the two countries.

The agreement follows legislation and support from the energy ministries of both countries to continue funding programs implemented by the Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation and Israel-US Binational Science Foundation (BSF) through 2024. 

The agreement additionally encourages collaboration between Israeli energy researchers at U.S. Department of Energy National Laboratories.

“I am certain that cooperation in the energy sector will expand in the years to come,” Steinitz said. “I thank Secretary Moniz for the friendship and cooperation. The United States is Israel’s greatest friend, and we appreciate this friendship.”

Moniz said: “The U.S. and Israel will continue to foster research and development, drive down the costs of clean energy technologies and encourage collaboration between our nations' top energy scientists.”