According to Israeli Prime Minister <name>Benjamin Netanyahu</name>, the termination of a natural gas contract between Egypt and Israel is a business matter and not a political issue between the two counties. <name>Netanyahu's</name> statement on Monday backs away from other officials' earlier responses to the action.

Egyptian Natural Gas Company announced Sunday, April 22 that it will stop supplying Israel with natural gas over a disagreement about payments. The company's leader claims the other side is in "breach of contract" as Gasco has not been paid for what has already been delivered.

In 2005, Israel and Egypt, under former president <name>Hosni Mubarak</name>, signed a 15-year trade deal whereby Egypt would supply natual gas at a discounted rate to the Israelis. Tensions between the two countries have made Israel cautious about relying on Egypt for its energy. Since the 2011 Egyptian revolution, the pipelines for transporting natural gas from Egypt to Israel have been damaged up to 14 times.

In Israel, <name>Yuval Steinitz</name>, the finance minister, said, "This is a dangerous precedent that diminishes the peace treaty [between the two countries]."

<name>Avigdor Lieberman</name>, foreign affairs minister, had called on Egypt to reverse the decision and prevent the contractual dispute from escalating into a political issue. Since <name>Netanyahu's</name> more recent comment, Lieberman has also backed away from characterizing the issue as a political dispute.