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A Corridor for Peace: Connecting the Middle East, India, and Europe
Bali Governor I Wayan Koster (left) with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi and Indonesian Home Minister Tito Karnavian ahead of the G20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia November 14, 2022. Photo: Fikri Yusuf/G20 Media Center/Handout via REUTERS
In September 2023, the IMEC initiative was announced. IMEC is an economic corridor that will connect India, the Middle East and Europe, with the support of the United States. This initiative has the potential to change the face of global trade and transportation.
The corridor is expected to strengthen economic, transportation and energy ties among the countries and serve as a digital bridge between continents. IMEC offers Israel a strategic opportunity to position itself as a transit hub between Asia and Europe and strengthen its regional ties — but the initiative faces geopolitical challenges that require strategic planning and smart regional cooperation.
In September 2023, at the G20 Summit in New Delhi, India, an ambitious initiative was announced: to establish the “India-Middle East-Europe Corridor” (IMEC), an economic corridor supported by the United States. The initiative aims to connect India, the Middle East, and Europe through advanced transport and energy infrastructure and strengthen cooperation in the fields of trade, economy, energy and security among all partner countries.
European Union Commissioner Ursula von der Leyen said the corridor is “more than ‘just’ a railway or a cable car, it is a green and digital bridge across continents and cultures.”
The IMEC economic corridor is expected to generate significant economic benefits and improve geopolitical ties among the participating countries. For Israel, it represents an important opportunity to position itself as a strategic bridge between Asia and Europe and to exploit the advantages inherent in the project.
Israel’s integration into the corridor will allow it to upgrade its transportation and logistics infrastructure, become a major transit hub between Asia and Europe, strengthen ties with the Gulf states, expand its circle of economic partners, and reduce its dependence on limited markets and its status as an “island economy” and “energy island.”
However, the success of the project depends on regional cooperation that requires political stability and regulatory adjustments. Geopolitical tensions between the great powers could spark competition for areas of influence, especially in the face of initiatives such as China’s “New Silk Road” (the Belt & Road Initiative, or BRI). In addition, although the project is not conditional on full normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia, effective cooperation will require ongoing coordination between those countries.
The economic corridor and regional potential
In light of the profound and dramatic changes in the region, the time is ripe to launch initiatives for regional cooperation between Israel and the moderate Arab states as an important step towards consolidating Israel’s status and independence.
At the time of writing, some of the conflicts are waning, with the collapse of the Shiite axis and the disintegration of the “ring of fire” that was part of Iran’s overt strategy in recent years. With Trump’s second term, discussions are resurfacing about possible normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia through American mediation. Indeed, the prolonged war emphasizes the importance of achieving military goals and implementing initiatives to promote regional stability.
Under the first Trump administration, important agreements were signed between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco. These agreements, known as the “Abraham Accords,” built on the earlier peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan and are part of Israel’s quiet diplomacy with its neighbors to expand peace since its founding.
The corridor is expected to increase Israel’s trade volumes with new markets in the Gulf, India and Europe, thereby reducing its dependence on traditional trading partners. Investment in expanding seaports (mainly in Haifa Bay) and infrastructure along the railway line (the Valley Railway) could make Israel a vital trade hub while encouraging foreign investment and establishing free trade zones along the corridor, especially near the border with Jordan.
In addition, integration into the project will provide opportunities for innovation in the fields of logistics and technology, including the integration of artificial intelligence and automation into transportation and management processes on the Israeli side towards Europe.
IMEC also constitutes a platform for the development of the green energy sector, including connection to green hydrogen and solar energy infrastructure. This could position Israel as a major player in the field of renewable energy and energy supply to Europe. It could also help achieve the government’s renewable energy goals (77% of electricity production by 2050).
Against this backdrop, it is necessary to examine how the processes of connectivity between Israel and the moderate axis among its neighbors can be strengthened through the ambitious initiative. In the past decade, goods from Europe have reached Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries through the port of Haifa, from where they made their way to the Israeli-Jordanian border crossing at Sheikh Hussein while maintaining the secrecy of their passage through Israel. This secrecy serves all parties by shortening transportation routes and may now receive further impetus in the renewed initiative supported by the current administration.
The IMEC initiative is largely based on a revolutionary rail connection project, “Railways for Regional Peace”, that was proposed in 2018. This project aims to connect Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia via high-speed rail. The planned land bridge is intended to streamline the passage of goods between the East and Europe by shortening transportation times, bypassing the Suez Canal, and promoting essential infrastructure for maximum utilization of existing transportation lines.
The project is divided into two main phases. The first involves constructing a railway connecting Israel and Jordan in the Beit Shean area. This phase requires the construction of tracks that will link the new private docks at Haifa Port to the Jordanian border, as well as a rail connection from the Sheikh Hussein border crossing to Irbid in Jordan. These links will accommodate the different rail standards of Israel and Jordan and overcome significant elevation differences between the two sides. The second phase focuses on establishing a direct railway line that will connect Israeli ports to the Persian Gulf via Jordan and Saudi Arabia, including the establishment of extensive trade zones — that is, land ports — for unloading and transporting cargo.
While the exact route of the IMEC project has not yet been revealed, it is expected to combine land rail corridors with shipping lanes. One option is for cargo shipments to depart from major ports in western India, such as Mumbai. The shipments would then be unloaded at ports in the Persian Gulf, including the port of Dammam in Saudi Arabia and various ports in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. From there, the goods would be transported by high-speed rail through northern Saudi Arabia and Jordan, finally reaching Israel via the Sheikh Hussein crossing.
Following the outbreak of war in 2023, a private pilot was conducted to examine a land transport route for trucks through the ports of Dubai, Saudi Arabia and Jordan that are unloaded using the Back to Back Trucking method at the border crossings with Israel, as was already done unofficially after the signing of the Abraham Accords. The public debut trip included ten trucks that traveled the long land route from the ports of the Persian Gulf to Israel.
The successful trip reflected the cooperation between the Gulf states, Saudi Arabia and Jordan — an essential factor due to the blockade imposed by the Iran-backed Houthis in the Bab al-Mandab Straits.
The India-Europe Economic Corridor through the Middle East is also expected to include the laying of communication cables and electricity connections that rely on existing networks, as well as pipelines for exporting gas, mainly green hydrogen (i.e., hydrogen produced using renewable energy, such as solar energy) from India and the Gulf countries to Europe. This way, gas can be stored in designated facilities that have already been successfully tested in Israel and other countries.
Israel is also cooperating with Egypt, Cyprus and Greece on offshore gas reserves. IMEC could become an export corridor for energy from those countries to Europe, which needs to reduce its dependence on Russian gas. This need arose mainly as a result of the war in Ukraine and the disruption of Russian gas transit through Ukrainian territory to Western Europe. The Great Sea Interconnector, which will be based on infrastructure for an undersea power cable to connect Israel with the Greek-Cypriot-European cable, could become an important energy source for Europe.
Current challenges
This ambitious plan has great potential in terms of the export of gas from Israel to European countries and the expansion of the existing infrastructure for energy transit within and outside Israel. However, the development of port connections, railways and other infrastructure necessary for the establishment of IMEC will require significant investment.
The first phase is estimated to cost about $8 billion, which will have to include private investments. Saudi Arabia has committed to an investment of $20 billion for IMEC, but this is only a tiny fraction of the $600 billion the G7 aims to raise for projects that will compete with the Chinese initiative by 2027. Furthermore, none of the member states has made formal financial commitments to IMEC, which leaves much of the financing outlook unclear.
The economic obstacle of attracting investment from India, the Gulf states and the European Union is just one hurdle. The war imposed on Israel since October 2023 and the continuation of the regional war against it have led to the suspension of normalization talks between Israel and Saudi Arabia, and public opposition from Arab countries to regional infrastructure initiatives with Israel, thus posing significant challenges to IMEC.
In parallel with the challenges associated Israel-Saudi normalization, Jordan is facing significant economic difficulties beyond the political and internal tensions arising from its relations with Israel. These difficulties are reflected, among other things, in the freezing of the joint electricity project with Israel and delays in obtaining financing to upgrade the railways in its territory. In light of the war in Gaza, relations between Israel and Egypt are also under great strain.
Another obstacle at the international level is the geopolitical competition between the United States and China. In the face of this initiative, which grew out of discussions at the I2U2 forum involving India, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and the United States, China embarked on an early and ambitious infrastructure program that has increased its influence in the region. Given that China has invested in regional infrastructure development projects, such as Etihad Rail, it may try to block regional projects that would harm its status or reduce its influence.
Saudi Arabia (which joined the China-led BRICS organization in August 2023 as an official member) and the UAE also cultivate deep ties with China and have become its strategic trade partners while maintaining their place within the Belt and Road initiative. The Gulf states’ involvement in IMEC could be a means of spreading risk and boosting leverage for negotiations with the Western partners. Turkey’s plans to establish an energy corridor through the Arab gas pipeline in Syria or through a corridor from Qatar and its connection to the existing network in Syria and Turkey could be realized more quickly, and undermine India’s route to transfer energy through Israel.
Practical suggestions
To make the agreement a reality and attract private and governmental investment, several initial steps are required, including the creation of a multilateral agreement to establish an institutional framework for a structured and systematic dialogue between the participating countries.
Another obstacle in the normalization process between Israel and Saudi Arabia, mediated by the United States, stems from difficulties in reaching long-term arrangements. One possible means of alleviating public opposition to normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia is the vision of railways for regional peace published by the Israeli government, a vision that includes the Valley Railway line for exporting and importing Palestinian goods to the Gulf states and Europe via the border crossing.
This may ease the opposition of the leaders of the hawkish line in the Saudi Kingdom against Israel and give the upper hand to the moderate camp, which supports promoting open relations between the countries. There is already economic and civilian cooperation, sometimes through a third party, as well as cooperation on the security front, with the two countries operating under the umbrella of United States Centcom command. This cooperation led to joint warnings and interceptions during the Iranian attacks on Israel. This is in addition to the opening of the airspace of Saudi Arabia, Oman, and the Gulf states to Israeli companies on their way to Asia in recent years.
To realize the economic potential of IMEC and reduce the political and economic barriers associated with it, a dedicated body should be established to attract private investment and promote infrastructure development among the participating countries. This body would allow private companies to take part in the project on the basis of private investment and the transportation of goods, thereby creating a model that would provide participants with economic incentives for the project’s success. In addition, the involvement of private initiatives could give the project broader public legitimacy, especially among the Arab countries, thereby easing political pressure on the region’s rulers and contributing to private-sponsored cooperation.
For Israel, participation in the IMEC project offers significant economic and geopolitical opportunities. Integration into the corridor will allow it to upgrade its existing transportation and logistics infrastructure on the Valley Line, greatly develop the ports of Haifa and the Gulf, and become a major transit hub between Asia and Europe. The corridor will allow Israel to fulfill its objectives in the field of renewable energy, expand its circle of economic partners, especially with India and European countries, and reduce its dependence on limited markets.
The IMEC economic corridor initiative faces significant political and geopolitical challenges that will require strategic planning and smart regional cooperation, but it has the potential to change the face of global trade and transportation — and it offers Israel a chance to position itself as a major player in the international arena.
Dr. Nir Levitan is a researcher at the BESA Center at Bar-Ilan University and at the Center for Cold War Studies at the University of Southern Denmark.
Prof. Arie Reich is Vice Rector and Jean Monnet Chair in Law and European Union Institutions, Faculty of Law, Bar-Ilan University.
Prof. Jonathan Rynhold is head of the Department of Political Studies at Bar-Ilan University and a senior research fellow at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies.
A version of this article was originally published by The BESA Center.
The post A Corridor for Peace: Connecting the Middle East, India, and Europe first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Al Jazeera Hit With Defamation Lawsuit by Syrian Jewish Ex-Refugee
The Al Jazeera Media Network logo is seen on its headquarters building in Doha, Qatar, June 8, 2017. Photo: REUTERS/Naseem Zeitoon
A defamation lawsuit was filed against the Qatar-based Al Jazeera media network on Wednesday by Abraham Hamra, a Syrian pro-Israel advocate and lawyer.
According to the lawsuit, which was filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Hamra “is a Jewish refugee from Syria, born in Damascus. He fled Syria with his parents and siblings in 1994 at the age of eight, following the partial lifting of restrictions on Jewish emigration by the Syrian regime under President Hafez al-Assad in 1992.”
The Algemeiner obtained a copy of the complaint, which explains that, on Aug. 25, Al Jazeera posted a video claiming that Hamra was paid by the Israeli government to visit an aid site of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), an Israel- and US-backed program that delivers aid directly to Palestinians, operating independently from UN-backed mechanisms.
“This accusation is false in its entirety. Plaintiff has never received any payment, compensation, or financial incentive from the Israeli government or any affiliated entity for visiting aid sites in Gaza,” the lawsuit claims.
“The visit by Plaintiff related to Israel and Gaza was undertaken independently, in his personal capacity, on his own dime, as an advocate for his community and to bear witness against misinformation,” the suit continues.
The UN and critics of Israel have expressed concerns that the GHF’s approach forces civilians to risk their safety by traveling long distances across active conflict zones to reach one of its four food distribution points, at times creating chaotic scenes where Israeli forces have used gunfire to control the crowd.
However, supporters of the GHF argue that it bypasses the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, which often steals humanitarian supplies for its own purposes and sells the rest at inflated prices. The GHF has called on the UN to publicly condemn the killing of aid workers in Gaza and to collaborate in order to provide relief to the enclave’s population, accusing the UN of perpetuating a “vast disinformation campaign” aimed at tarnishing the foundation’s image.
The lawsuit notes that the social media post from Al Jazeera, which included the image of Hamra, “cites no sources for the ‘reportedly paid’ claim, and publicly available information about Plaintiff, including his professional bio, social media posts, and known activities, demonstrates he is an independent US attorney with no financial ties to foreign governments.”
Al Jazeera also “failed to conduct even basic fact-checking, such as contacting Plaintiff for comment or verifying the allegation, despite their status as a major media network with resources to do so,” according to the lawsuit.
Al Jazeera did not respond to a request for comment from The Algemeiner.
The lawsuit argues why the allegedly false claim rises to the level of libel, saying it “constitutes libel per se under New York law because it accuses Plaintiff of committing a serious crime, namely, violating FARA [the Foreign Agents Registration Act] by acting as an unregistered foreign agent for Israel, and tends to injure him in his profession as a lawyer.”
“FARA requires individuals acting as agents of foreign principals to register with the US Department of Justice, and failure to do so is a federal offense punishable by fines and imprisonment,” the suit says. “By falsely alleging Plaintiff was paid by a foreign government to promote its interests, the statement implies criminal conduct and undermines his professional integrity.”
Consequently, Hamra is seeking payment for damages of at least $1,00,000 and requesting a trial by jury.
Read the lawsuit here: Hamra v Al Jazeera ECF No. 1 Complaint
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US Lawmakers Launch Investigation Into Wikipedia Over Claims of Systemic Anti-Israel Bias
US Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC). Photo: Reuters
The US House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has opened an investigation into the nonprofit that operates the Wikipedia website, demanding answers over concerns that hostile foreign actors are exploiting the popular online encyclopedia to spread anti-Israel propaganda and antisemitic narratives.
Republican Reps James Comer (KY), who chairs the committee, and Nancy Mace (SC), who chairs the panel’s subcommittee on cybersecurity, information technology, and government innovation, on Wednesday sent a letter to Maryana Iskander, chief executive of the Wikimedia Foundation, asking the nonprofit to turn over records showing how the platform polices disinformation campaigns that target articles related to Israel and the Middle East.
The lawmakers cited studies showing that pro-Russia networks and other state-backed operations have sought to manipulate Wikipedia entries on conflicts involving Israel, often by inserting anti-Israel or antisemitic framing designed to sway Western audiences. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), for example, published a report earlier this year arguing that “malicious” Wikipedia editors have inserted anti-Israel bias onto the site, oftentimes violating the organization’s neutrality policies in the process.
Meanwhile, a report from the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab found evidence of Russian-linked attempts to shape narratives used to train AI chatbots by twisting information about Israel.
“The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is investigating the efforts of foreign operations and individuals at academic institutions subsidized by US taxpayer dollars to influence US public opinion,” Comer and Mace wrote. They emphasized the importance of stopping organized attempts to “inject bias into important and sensitive topics.”
Specifically, the committee is demanding records on possible coordination by nation-states or academic institutions to influence Wikipedia pages, internal arbitration files documenting how the site has handled editor misconduct, identifying data for accounts flagged for suspicious activity, and any analysis showing patterns of manipulation tied to antisemitism or the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The letter also requests details of Wikipedia’s editorial policies to ensure neutrality and prevent the spread of bias.
Although the committee acknowledged that most online platforms face disinformation threats, the letter stressed that Wikipedia’s outsized influence as one of the most visited websites in the world and a key training source for artificial intelligence systems makes it especially important to prevent anti-Israel narratives from taking root unchecked.
The Wikimedia Foundation has previously stated that it takes action against volunteer editors who violate neutrality rules, but lawmakers say further transparency is needed to guarantee accountability.
However, a detailed investigation by Pirate Wires in October 2024 revealed that a powerful group of roughly 40 Wikipedia editors coordinated to “delegitimize Israel, present radical Islamist groups in a favorable light, and reshape the narrative around Israel with alarming influence,” particularly after the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel. Notably, one editor removed mention of Hamas’s 1988 charter, which calls for the killing of Jews and the destruction of Israel, from the Hamas article just six weeks after the attack. The group also reportedly sought to suppress documented human-rights abuses by Iran, and a related effort by a Discord-based collective known as “Tech For Palestine” coordinated mass editing of articles related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
According to a report by the Jewish Journal, Wikipedia’s arbitration committee (ArbCom) permanently banned two editors outright for engaging in off-platform coordination tied to the “Tech for Palestine” Discord campaign, citing violations of policies. Additionally, the committee imposed indefinite topic bans on eight editors in the Israeli-Palestinian area for disruptive behavior such as non-neutral editing, personal insults, and misrepresentation of sources. In December 2024, ArbCom permanently banned two anti-Israel editors and placed restrictions on three others for violation of site policies in the Israeli-Palestinian topic area.
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Tunisian Brothers to Face Trial for Cutting Down Olive Tree Honoring Murdered Jew Ilan Halimi in France
A crowd gathers at the Jardin Ilan Halimi in Paris on Feb. 14, 2021, to commemorate the 15th anniversary of Halimi’s kidnapping and murder. Photo: Reuters/Xose Bouzas/Hans Lucas
Two Tunisian twin brothers have been arrested in France after allegedly cutting down an olive tree that had been planted to honor Ilan Halimi, a young French Jewish man tortured to death nearly a decade ago.
According to the Bobigny prosecutor’s office, two 19-year-old undocumented men with prior convictions for theft and violence were arrested for vandalizing Halimi’s memorial in the northern Paris suburb of Épinay-sur-Seine.
Both brothers appeared in criminal court on Wednesday and were remanded in custody pending their trial, scheduled for Oct. 22.
They will face trial on charges of “aggravated destruction of property” and “desecration of a monument dedicated to the memory of the dead on the basis of race, ethnicity, nationality, or religion,” offenses that, according to prosecutors, carry a sentence of up to two years in prison.
Both suspects were taken into custody around noon on Monday while returning to the crime scene, French media reported.
Investigators tracked them down after discovering two slices of watermelon left by the perpetrators at the base of the olive tree, which contained their DNA.
Halimi was abducted, held captive, and tortured in January 2006 by a gang of about 20 people in a low-income housing estate in the Paris suburb of Bagneux.
Three weeks later, Halimi was found in Essonne, south of Paris, naked, gagged, and handcuffed, with clear signs of torture and burns. The 23-year-old died on the way to the hospital.
In 2011, an olive tree was planted in Halimi’s memory. Earlier this month, the memorial was found felled — probably with a chainsaw — in the northern Paris suburb of Epinay-sur-Seine.
Halimi’s memory has faced attacks before, with two other trees planted in his honor vandalized in 2019 in Essonne, where he was found dying near a railway track.
Hervé Chevreau, the mayor of Épinay, announced that a new memorial tree will be planted in the second half of September.
After the attack, French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the incident, vowing that the perpetrators would be brought to justice.
“Felling the tree in honor of Ilan Halimi is a second attempt on his life,” the French leader said in a post on X.
Halimi’s sister, Anne-Laure Abitbol, also condemned the incident, warning that public denunciations are no longer enough and calling for concrete action.
“In France, we are no longer safe, neither alive nor dead,” Abitbol told RTL in an interview.
“I feel less safe in France,” she said. “By recognizing a Palestinian state, Macron is encouraging antisemitism and failing to take action against antisemitic attacks in the country.”
Last month, Macron announced that France will recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly in September as part of its “commitment to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East.”
Israeli officials have criticized the move, which was followed by several other Western countries, calling it a “reward for terrorism.”
France’s Jewish community has faced a troubling surge in antisemitic incidents and anti-Israel sentiment since the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Jewish leaders have consistently called on authorities to take swift action against the rising wave of targeted attacks and anti-Jewish hate crimes they continue to face.
According to the French Interior Ministry, 646 antisemitic incidents were recorded from January to June this year — a drop from the previous year’s first-half record high but a 112.5 percent increase compared with the same period in 2023, when 304 incidents were reported.