Netanyahu leaves for Greece for gas pipeline talks

The new natural gas pipeline Israel is promoting is "creating a revolution in Israel's energy field", said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, as he departed for Greece to discuss the pipeline.

Netanyahu will meet top Greek and Cypriot officials in his trip to talk about the pipeline which Netanyahu said will bring in "hundreds of billions to the states's treasury".

He added it will turn his country into "an energy powerhouse".

As now planned, the pipeline will run across the Mediterranean from Israel's Levantine Basin offshore gas reserves to the Greek island of Crete and the Greek mainland, and then to Italy.

The leaders of Cyprus, Greece and Israel plan to sign an agreement early in the new year for the building of the eastern Mediterranean natural gas pipeline, the Greek prime minister's office announced in late December.

The agreement is due to be signed in Athens on January 2 by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Cypriot President Nikos Anastasiades and Netanyahu.

But as he embarks on the plane, the shadow of Netanyahu's legal woes is hanging over him.

Netanyahu was indicted in November on charges of accepting bribes, fraud and breach of trust.

On Wednesday, Netanyahu said he would seek immunity from corruption charges, likely delaying any trial until after March elections, when he hopes to have a majority coalition which will shield him from prosecution.