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The pioneering POEM cruises (1985-1990) undoubtedly advanced our understanding of the mesoscale circulation in the SE Levantine basin, which is composed of cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies interconnected by the offshore cross-basin Mid Mediterranean Jet (MMJ). The predominant feature in the SE Levantine was shown to be the recurrent, multi-pole, anticyclonic Shikmona gyre, which was comprised of three anticyclonic eddies: one offshore Egypt, a second offshore from the shelf of Israel and Lebanon (the Shikmona eddy), and the Cyprus eddy, which was located closer to the Eratosthenes SM. For several years during the post POEM period confusion between the Shikmona eddy and the Cyprus eddy arose due to the unresolved generation mechanisms of the two. The MMJ's existence as an offshore cross-basin current was also challenged.To investigate these uncertainties, two large in-situ datasets (CTDs and XBTs) gathered in the SE Levantine from 1995-2015 (CYBO and HaiSec) were analysed and combined with the Mediterranean Sea Physics Reanalysis (https://doi.org/10.25423/CMCC/MEDSEA_MULTIYEAR_PHY_006_004_E3R1) from the Copernicus Marine Service, and with results from numerical model simulations examining the generation mechanism of the Cyprus eddy.An analysis of two decades of post-POEM dynamic height topography data showed that: a) the Cyprus eddy appearing east and southeast of the Eratosthenes SM and the Shikmona eddy appearing southeast of the Cyprus eddy are the most prominent mesoscale features; b) the centers of these two eddies exhibit significant migration with the Cyprus eddy migrating westward or south-westward from the Eratosthenes SM when the Shikmona eddy appears. The trajectories of drifters deployed offshore Israel indicated that the Shikmona eddy forms when the northward-flowing current along the Israel-Lebanese slope becomes unstable and meanders offshore. The mechanism generating the Cyprus eddy was investigated with a three-layer quasi-geostrophic model used to simulate topographic eddy formation around the Eratosthenes SM with an eastward flowing jet imposed along the western boundary of the model with varying inclinations and intensities. A single vortex mimicking the Cyprus eddy was reproduced with a secondary small-scale cyclone at its periphery. The geostrophic patterns obtained from the in-situ measurements around the Eratosthenes SM were qualitatively compared with these numerical experiments.The Modified Atlantic Water (MAW) in the SE Levantine appears as a subsurface salinity minimum based on dozens of salinity profiles gathered along the 33°E north-south cross sections extending from Cyprus to Egypt. The associated geostrophic currents computed along the same transects demonstrate that the MAW is transported: a) eastward by a strong current flowing between the southern shelf of Cyprus and the northern flank of the Cyprus eddy, b) westward by a weaker flow along the southern flank of the Cyprus eddy, and c) eastward along the Egyptian shelf and slope. Thus, the POEM group's findings describing the MMJ as a cross basin offshore current are confirmed by the MAW’s pathways based on the combined analysis of the CYBO and HaiSec in-situ data and the reanalysis, thereby providing strong evidence for its existence.