First Visit by Egyptian Minister to Israel in 5 Years

Egypt’s Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El Molla meets Israeli PM Netanyahu. (Israeli PM’s office)
Egypt’s Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El Molla meets Israeli PM Netanyahu. (Israeli PM’s office)
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First Visit by Egyptian Minister to Israel in 5 Years

Egypt’s Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El Molla meets Israeli PM Netanyahu. (Israeli PM’s office)
Egypt’s Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El Molla meets Israeli PM Netanyahu. (Israeli PM’s office)

Tel Aviv and Cairo have agreed to expand cooperation in the energy field.

The announcement was made during a visit by Egypt’s Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El Molla to Israel on Sunday.

The Egyptian minister’s visit marked the first public visit to Israel by a senior Egyptian government official in five years.

“This is an important day, marking our continued cooperation on energy and so many other things,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu upon receiving Molla.

“This began of course with the historic peace treaty between Egypt and Israel but is turning into something that can economically improve people’s lives.”

“We think that this is a great opportunity for regional cooperation among Egypt, Israel and the other countries,” he added.

“We are an energy hub. Together we can supply not only our own needs, but the needs of many other countries. So it is in this spirit of friendship and cooperation and peace and prosperity that I welcome you to Israel,” Netanyahu noted.

The meeting between Netanyahu and Molla was attended by Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz, National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat, Israel’s envoy to Egypt Amira Oron, Egyptian envoy to Israel Khaled Azmi, and Magdy Galal, chair of the state-owned Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company, which manages Egyptian state shares in gas projects.

Steinitz welcomed his guest and said he was “happy and excited” to host Molla, the first Egyptian minister to visit Israel since 2016.

Molla’s visit focused on extending a pipeline linking Israel to the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, in addition to developing gas fields and cooperation in gas exploration, and promoting the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF).

Egypt, Israel, Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority established the EMGF as an intergovernmental organization in September 2020. In December, the United Arab Emirates joined the Forum as an observer.

Egypt has been seeking to transform itself into a regional energy hub through the forum, which aims to establish a regional gas market, rationalize the cost of infrastructure and offer competitive prices.

Egypt began importing Israeli gas in early 2020, for possible re-export to Europe or Asia.

The 2015 discovery of the giant offshore Zohr field had unlocked interest in Egypt’s energy market and encouraged Cairo to promote itself as a regional hub.

Molla also signed a memorandum of understanding for Egypt to help develop the Gaza Marine field with the project’s two partners, the Palestine Investment Fund (PIF), the sovereign fund of the Palestinian Authority, and Consolidated Contractors Company.

They agreed to cooperate on developing the field and the necessary infrastructure that would provide Palestine’s needs of natural gas with the possibility of exporting part of it to Egypt.

The MoU was signed by Magdy Galal and advisor to the Palestinian President for Economic Affairs and Chairman of the PIF Board of Directors Mohamed Mustafa.



Gulf Stock Markets Plunge Sharply Following Wall Street Slump

Stock screen during the decline of the US market (Reuters)
Stock screen during the decline of the US market (Reuters)
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Gulf Stock Markets Plunge Sharply Following Wall Street Slump

Stock screen during the decline of the US market (Reuters)
Stock screen during the decline of the US market (Reuters)

Gulf financial markets suffered significant losses on Sunday, tracking sharp declines on Wall Street last Friday after US President Donald Trump announced new reciprocal tariffs on countries with which the US maintains trade relations.

The Saudi stock market posted the steepest drop among the Gulf states, closing down 6.8%. It was followed by Kuwait’s Premier Market, which fell 5.7%, Qatar’s market down 4.2%, Muscat down 2.6%, and Bahrain posting the smallest drop at 1%. The Abu Dhabi and Dubai exchanges were closed Sunday, though they had ended the previous week in the red, erasing all gains since the beginning of the year.

Trump had announced a minimum 10% tariff on Gulf countries, among others. The S&P 500 shed nearly $5 trillion in value over two days, marking its worst performance since March 2020, with a sharp 6% drop on Friday alone. The Nasdaq 100 officially entered a bear market, down more than 20% from its recent peak.

Mohammed Al-Maimouni, a financial advisor at Al-Mutadawil Al-Arabi, told Asharq Al-Awsat that two main factors triggered the sell-off: first, Trump’s tariffs sparked a downturn in US markets, which rippled through global and Gulf markets. China’s retaliatory tariffs further compounded the impact. Second, oil prices fell below $70 per barrel, weighing on energy stocks.

Al-Maimouni added that markets and economies are gripped by uncertainty over the tariffs’ long-term effects.

“I expect continued volatility next week as investors adjust to the new reality,” he said.

Amid global economic tensions, Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul index dropped to its lowest level since December 2023, marking its worst daily loss since May 2020. The TASI index plunged 6.7% to close at 11,078 points, a drop of 804 points, with banking, energy, and utilities sectors leading the fall.

Blue-chip stocks were particularly affected. Aramco shares dropped 5.25% to SAR 24.92, Al Rajhi Bank declined 5.9% to SAR 94.70, and Saudi National Bank fell 6.82% to SAR 32.80.

Aramco’s market capitalization dropped to around SAR 6 trillion ($1.6 trillion), down from SAR 6.4 trillion at the time of its 2019 IPO—a 7% decrease. Since the start of the year, Aramco shares have lost roughly 12% amid growing pressure on energy stocks and falling oil prices amid fears of weakening global demand.

Al-Maimouni said the sharp sell-off was driven by local investors offloading their holdings, particularly in key banking stocks. “Aramco also breached a key support level at SAR 25, amplifying the losses,” he explained.

Broad Losses Across Gulf and Egypt

Kuwait’s Premier Market tumbled 5.7% to 8,106.1 points. Leading stocks took the brunt of the hit, with Kuwait Finance House down 5.5%, National Bank of Kuwait falling 7%, Gulf Bank losing 5%, and Boubyan Bank shedding 6.1%.

In Muscat, the market declined by 2.6%, while Qatar’s exchange dropped 4.2%, led by Qatar Industries, which plunged 8.2%. Bahrain’s bourse saw the mildest decline at 1%.

In Egypt, the stock market experienced its worst drop since April 2024. The main index closed down 3.34%, with the market losing EGP 80 billion