Cyprus and Israel are studying the possibility of a common pipeline that could help export natural gas to Europe and Asia, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced.
Netanyahu was in Cyprus on Thursday, the first visit to this country by an Israeli Prime Minister.
"We are looking at the possibility of a 40-kilometer pipeline" off the coast of Israel and Cyprus, he said after a meeting with Cyprus President Demetris Christofias in Nicosia. No decision has been taken yet, he said.
The two countries have discovered quantities of offshore gas estimated to be worth billions of dollars in exports.
Netanyahu’s historic visit to Cyprus follows the Cypriot leader’s visit to Israel in March and Israeli President Shimon Peres’s visit to Cyprus in November.
The Israeli Prime Minister declared that the two countries’ warming ties are a "natural relationship" in a reflection of the rapidly shifting alliances in this turbulent part of the world.
A Cyprus government spokesman said that the visit "llustrates the great dynamic driving forward the improvement in relations between the two countries."
The newfound closeness comes as ties between Israel and Turkey hit a historic low following the Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla in May 2010, which left nine Turks dead.
Cyprus has been split since 1974 when Turkey invaded the island in response to a coup by supporters of union with Greece.