CAIRO (Dispatches) -- An Egyptian official sharply criticized Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling him “delusional” for threatening to cancel the crucial gas agreement between Egypt and Israel.
Diaa Rashwan, head of Egypt’s State Information Service (SIS), condemned Netanyahu’s threats in a televised statement, saying the Israeli leader “cannot bear the economic and political consequences” of ending the deal. 
Rashwan accused Netanyahu of viewing Egypt as an obstacle to his “Greater Israel” ambitions, labeling Cairo as a “thorn in his side” and the frontline defender against Palestinian displacement.
These comments come after Israeli media reports suggested Netanyahu was reconsidering the gas deal with Egypt. The Israeli daily Israel Hayom reported that Netanyahu had instructed officials not to proceed with the massive gas agreement without his personal approval. He is reportedly in discussions with Israeli energy minister Eli Cohen about whether and how to move forward.
Last month, Netanyahu openly declared his commitment to the vision of “Greater Israel,” which includes the occupied Palestinian territories and extends into parts of Arab countries, from the Euphrates to the Nile—an expansionist agenda that clearly threatens regional stability.
Rashwan emphasized that Netanyahu’s assumption that Egypt has no alternative energy options is a grave miscalculation. “The Egyptian administration has alternatives and scenarios,” he stated, accusing Netanyahu of trying to “export a crisis” onto Egypt.
Egypt has consistently maintained its firm stance on the Gaza war and Palestinian rights. Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly recently reaffirmed that the extension of the gas deal with NewMed Energy—partner in Israel’s Leviathan gas field, extending the 2019 agreement until 2040—does not affect Egypt’s rejection of any attempts to “liquidate the Palestinian cause” or forcibly displace Palestinians.
The gas supplied by Israel flows through an undersea pipeline from the Leviathan and Tamar fields to Egypt’s North Sinai, where it helps meet domestic demand and is also re-exported as liquefied natural gas to global markets.