Israel has launched an ambitious plan to build a railway linking its Mediterranean coastline with Saudi Arabia after Gulf nations became cut off because of Syria’s collapse.
Last year Israel reopened an Ottoman-era train line between Haifa, on the coast, and the Jordanian border. However, Yisrael Katz, the minister of transportation and intelligence, plans to extend the line to the Jordanian cities of Irbid and Amman. A spur of the railway line would connect the Palestinians with a freight terminal near the city of Jenin in the northern West Bank.
Mr Katz, a senior member of the ruling Likud party, envisions a rail link that would run to Riyadh and the oil city of Dammam on the Persian Gulf. He also suggested that passenger trains could take the Muslim citizens of Israel, who make up about 20 per cent of the population, on pilgrimage to Mecca. “There are discussions,” he said. “We’ve talked about this with the Americans.”
Thousands of lorries, many laden with Turkish goods, drive from Haifa to Jordan each year. Mr Katz’s plan could create a cheaper, faster Mediterranean trade route to Israel’s neighbour — and perhaps to countries farther afield with which Israel is eager to forge a relationship.
“We can offer this to Saudi Arabia and all the other Gulf countries, too,” Mr Katz said. “They wanted to go through Damascus, but they can’t any more. So we can offer them a gateway to the Mediterranean.”
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Israel does not have formal diplomatic relations with any of the six Gulf states but it has built quiet ties with them over the past few years, motivated by a mutual fear of Iran.
In recent months Saudi officials have told the Trump administration that they are willing to establish economic links with Israel in exchange for renewed peace talks with the Palestinians. “It’s difficult, but I think we can do it,” he said.