In the past few years significant amounts of natural gas have been discovered offshore in the Eastern Mediterranean. Countries that have so far been dependent on energy imports will have the opportunity to develop massive gas fields, increase their energy security and even export natural gas to other regions. The discoveries are expected not only to affect the energy market, but may also be considered a game-changer with geostrategic, legal and social implications.

Since natural gas is expected to have a dramatic impact on the regions, the Friedrich- Ebert-Stiftung, the Macro Center for Political Economics and the Institute for National Security Studies organized a conference in the framework of the Israeli- European Policy Network. The conference, titled “Natural Gas in the Eastern Mediterranean: Casus Belli or Chance for Regional Cooperation?” took place on July 5, 2012 in Tel Aviv. It included many international experts from the region and the EU and focused on the strategic and legal aspects of the natural gas findings. This publication summarizes the main findings of the conference, but does not necessarily represent the opinions of the speakers at the conference or the organizations they represent.