Israel has sizeable natural gas reserves, primarily in the eastern Mediterranean. Over the last decade, those reserves have grown over 40 percent as the county has increased drilling and exploration activities. Previously reliant on imported energy to meet its needs, Israeli natural gas now accounts for 70 percent of its electricity generation, allowing the country to be more secure and produce cleaner energy.

Israel’s natural gas reserves have also established the potential of becoming an energy exporter. Imagine how much safer the world would be if Europe was no longer dependent on Russian natural gas and could instead import from a democratic nation like Israel. (In fact, last year, the Biden Administration withdrew support for a pipeline that would have allowed for those exports in favor of pushing “clean energy technologies.”)

Democracy has always been the foundation on which true independence is built—and that applies to energy independence no less than other freedoms. We are safer and more secure when America leads, and our allies are safer and more secure when America supports their energy independence.

For more information about how energy independence for America and its allies can make the world safer, visit The Empowerment Alliance.