The Obama administration tightened security cooperation with Israel Monday to counter possible attacks against the Jewish state’s energy and water supplies.
The agreement, signed Monday in Jerusalem, comes a month after the Justice Department charged Iranian cyber warfare hackers of targeting New York’s water infrastructure.
Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz signed the agreement with Israeli Minister of National Infrastructure, Energy and Water Resources Dr. Yuval Steinitz.
“I am certain that cooperation in the energy sector will expand in the years to come,” said Steinitz. “I thank Secretary Moniz for the friendship and cooperation. The United States is Israel’s greatest friend, and we appreciate this friendship.”
The deal includes areas for increased cooperation, including “protection of the energy and water infrastructure against physical, electromagnetic, and cyber threats.”
An electromagnetic attack would come from the detonation of a nuclear weapon high in the atmosphere above a country to disable the electric grid along with computers and other electronic and digital equipment.
The Energy Department will also cooperate with Israel in key areas such as energy exploration and production, and distribution technologies for fossil fuels.
It seeks development of fuels from technologies that convert natural gas and biological waste into liquid alternatives to diesel and gasoline. Israel in recent years discovered a big natural gas reserve, named Leviathan, beneath the seabed off its Mediterranean coast.
Leviathan could make the country less dependent on energy imports, although development is impeded by legal disputes.
