A memorandum of understanding to export Israeli gas to Europe was signed by the energy ministers of "Israel", Egypt, and the EU on Wednesday.

The agreement, which was signed at a ceremony in Cairo, comes as Europe is looking for alternative sources of gas to replace Russia, which is currently being bombarded with sanctions by the West amid the war in Ukraine.

The gas will be transferred from "Israel" to Egypt via an existing pipeline, whereupon Egypt will liquefy and re-export it.

Under this agreement, shipments of LNG from Egypt to Europe will increase, but it will probably take a couple of years before the exports can be expanded.

“Today Egypt and Israel make a commitment to share our natural gas with Europe and to help with the energy crisis,” Israeli Energy Minister Karine Elharrar said after the signing of the MoU in Cairo.

On her part, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who was present at the signing, tweeted that “with this…agreement we will work on the stable delivery of natural gas to the EU from the East Med region. This will contribute to our EU energy security. And we are building infrastructure fit for renewables - the energy of the future.”

With this 🇪🇺🇪🇬🇮🇱 agreement we will work on the stable delivery of natural gas to the EU from the East Med region.

This will contribute to our 🇪🇺 energy security.

And we are building infrastructure fit for renewables - the energy of the future. pic.twitter.com/GYFPXwFpsp

— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) June 15, 2022

The sides agreed to work on a plan to make gas exports to Europe more efficient. The EU will encourage European companies to take part in searching and producing natural gas in Israeli and Egyptian economic waters. 

According to the agreement, gas exports will play a role in the European Union's energy market until 2030. But after that, natural gas use is expected to decline as Europe tries to achieve a zero-emission economy by 2050.