Jordanian government officials emphasised last week that the $15bn deal to buy natural gas from Israel's offshore Leviathan field was between them and a US company.
Obviously, in the aftermath of the Gaza conflict, this is not the best time for the Hashemites to be seen by their neighbours and some of their own citizens, a majority of whom are of Palestinian descent, embarking on a major energy deal with the Israelis.
King Abdullah is trying to navigate his way around Muslim Brotherhood leaders, pro-democracy activists and Isis sympathisers. He needs a reliable source of gas to keep energy prices down, especially after losing Jordan's previous supplier, Egypt, due to repeated sabotage of the Sinai pipeline by Islamists. But the mega-billion deal with the consortium which includes US-based Noble Energy and Israeli companies Delek Drilling and Avner offers him not only cheap gas.
Jordan, one of the weaker and resource-poor countries in the region, has become the third member of an energy alliance between Israel and Egypt, which is already liquefying Israel's natural gas. The new pipeline will bind Jordan into a long-term partnership that could include other regional allies such as the Kurds and Turkey (if and when it resolves its issues with Israel).
While both Israel and Egypt are opposed to the rise of jihadis in Syria and Iraq, it is Jordan that is on the front line, with Isis supporters already controlling parts of some cities in the Hashemite Kingdom. By the same logic, the al-Sisi government's ruthless campaign against the Muslim Brotherhood is a reassurance to Jordan.
For Israel, the gas deals with Jordan and Egypt are an extension of the close co-ordination with Cairo throughout the Gaza conflict and the joint pressure on Hamas to agree to ceasefire without receiving any concessions.
Recent months have proved that the alliance between Israel and Egypt, though low-profile, is strong. At one point, Israeli and Egyptian leaders even jointly resisted US pressure to show more flexibility to Hamas and allow the movement's sponsors, Qatar, a role in the Gaza talks. The new gas deal heralds the possibility of Jordan joining this alliance.
