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India-led Economic Trade Corridor Could Be a Bonanza for Israel
India’s prime minister, Shri Narendra Modi, addresses the gathering at the Indian Community Reception Event at the Singapore Expo in Singapore on November 24, 2015.
JNS.org – At the recent meeting in the White House between President Donald Trump and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the two leaders focused on how to make the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) initiative a reality. While the subjects discussed included bilateral issues, such as security cooperation, advanced technology, energy and trade, the central issue that most keenly relates to Israel at this difficult time was the uplifting idea of the economic corridor to stretch from India to one of Israel’s Mediterranean ports, either Ashdod or Haifa, and then on to Europe.
The idea of the economic corridor was first raised in September 2023 during the G-20 Summit in India and received resounding support from the United States, the European Union, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. These countries, along with Germany, Italy, France and India, signed on to the declaration. The plan envisions two trade corridors: a maritime corridor from India to the UAE and a land corridor via railroad from UAE to Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Israel, and then on to Europe. The plan calls for expanding underwater communication and gas pipelines, improving energy grids and telecommunication lines, promoting clean energy technology and enhancing internet access in the hopes of ensuring stability and security between the various regions.
The ostensible purpose of the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor is to develop a cost-effective, cross-border, ship-to-rail transit network that would supplement existing maritime and road transport routes. Goods and services would travel to, from and between India, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel and Europe, with the goal of securing regional supply chains and trade accessibility.
Israel is to be the gateway to Europe. Although Israel and Jordan are not officially co-signers of the declaration, Israel’s importance rests not only on its geostrategic location but on its advanced technological prowess as well. The skills that Israel would provide are critical to the success of the IMEC project and to the countries involved.
For Israel, the idea of a regional economic and security alliance is not new. Israel Katz, then-Israel’s minister of transportation and current defense minister, conceived of a plan in 2017 called “Tracks for Regional Peace.” He envisioned connecting Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Israel with Europe. His successor as transportation minister, Miri Regev, thought along the same lines, calling the project “From Gulf to Gulf” in 2021.
What made the vision more than a dream was the Abraham Accords and the normalization of relations between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco. New ways of thinking were instrumental in a gradual process toward normalization with Saudi Arabia, one demonstration of which included the Saudis permitting Israeli commercial airlines to fly over its territory, saving airlines precious fuel and shortening flight time from Israel to Africa and the Far East. There were also periodic meetings of Israeli and Saudi officials, including a “not so secret” visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman (known as MBS). These preliminaries led to the first stages of cooperation in security and commerce. The Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and the subsequent war against Hamas disrupted efforts toward realizing the economic corridor.
India, however, pushed forward with a plan, investing great efforts to connect Europe, and, specifically Italy, France and Greece, with its Middle Eastern partners, Saudi Arabia and UAE.
Israel’s brilliant military performance against Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran has raised Jerusalem’s prestige in the eyes of the moderate Arab Gulf states. That prowess, combined with Trump’s return to the White House, has increased the possibility of normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia. What’s more, despite the brutal war and Arab solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza, countries such as the UAE and Bahrain were not deterred and continued working closely with Israel. Thus, the prospect of moving forward with the inter-regional economic corridor has become more substantive.
The Trump administration’s close relationship with Israel and Netanyahu’s personal friendship with Modi of India provide the Jewish state with a window of opportunity to take part in the economic corridor. Even more importantly, it would present a chance to reshape the Middle East. This would strengthen Israel’s political and economic standing in the midst of an ongoing war.
Israel needs to initiate a dialogue with Trump and Modi, presenting them with a roadmap for the role Israel would play in the IMEC initiative. Part of the strategy would require, for instance, upgrading transit points on the border between Israel and Jordan, and standardizing the rail systems between the two countries. Israel could be particularly relevant in securing information and cyber-connection, which will be a crucial element of the plan’s connectivity.
An inter-regional economic corridor initiative would directly challenge China’s expensive “Belt and Road Initiative,” which seeks to establish trade and infrastructure networks connecting Asia, Europe and Africa. China would certainly be unhappy with the IMEC initiative and would likely seek to disrupt it.
Given the rivalry between China and the United States—and the increase in attacks on undersea cables—securing these lines will be critical to the success of regional connectivity. Israel, for its part, can secure its portion of the Mediterranean Sea.
Finally, for Israel, the security dimension of the India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor is of utmost value. It will, by necessity, bring about a military defensive pact between Israel and Saudi Arabia to serve as a bulwark against the machinations of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The post India-led Economic Trade Corridor Could Be a Bonanza for Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Syria’s Sharaa Says Talks With Israel Could Yield Results ‘In Coming Days’
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks at the opening ceremony of the 62nd Damascus International Fair, the first edition held since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, in Damascus, Syria, Aug. 27, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa said on Wednesday that ongoing negotiations with Israel to reach a security pact could lead to results “in the coming days.”
He told reporters in Damascus the security pact was a “necessity” and that it would need to respect Syria’s airspace and territorial unity and be monitored by the United Nations.
Syria and Israel are in talks to reach an agreement that Damascus hopes will secure a halt to Israeli airstrikes and the withdrawal of Israeli troops who have pushed into southern Syria.
Reuters reported this week that Washington was pressuring Syria to reach a deal before world leaders gather next week for the UN General Assembly in New York.
But Sharaa, in a briefing with journalists including Reuters ahead of his expected trip to New York to attend the meeting, denied the US was putting any pressure on Syria and said instead that it was playing a mediating role.
He said Israel had carried out more than 1,000 strikes on Syria and conducted more than 400 ground incursions since Dec. 8, when the rebel offensive he led toppled former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.
Sharaa said Israel’s actions were contradicting the stated American policy of a stable and unified Syria, which he said was “very dangerous.”
He said Damascus was seeking a deal similar to a 1974 disengagement agreement between Israel and Syria that created a demilitarized zone between the two countries.
He said Syria sought the withdrawal of Israeli troops but that Israel wanted to remain at strategic locations it seized after Dec. 8, including Mount Hermon. Israeli ministers have publicly said Israel intends to keep control of the sites.
He said if the security pact succeeds, other agreements could be reached. He did not provide details, but said a peace agreement or normalization deal like the US-mediated Abraham Accords, under which several Muslim-majority countries agreed to normalize diplomatic ties with Israel, was not currently on the table.
He also said it was too early to discuss the fate of the Golan Heights because it was “a big deal.”
Reuters reported this week that Israel had ruled out handing back the zone, which Donald Trump unilaterally recognized as Israeli during his first term as US president.
“It’s a difficult case – you have negotiations between a Damascene and a Jew,” Sharaa told reporters, smiling.
SECURITY PACT DERAILED IN JULY
Sharaa also said Syria and Israel had been just “four to five days” away from reaching the basis of a security pact in July, but that developments in the southern province of Sweida had derailed those discussions.
Syrian troops were deployed to Sweida in July to quell fighting between Druze armed factions and Bedouin fighters. But the violence worsened, with Syrian forces accused of execution-style killings and Israel striking southern Syria, the defense ministry in Damascus and near the presidential palace.
Sharaa on Wednesday described the strikes near the presidential palace as “not a message, but a declaration of war,” and said Syria had still refrained from responding militarily to preserve the negotiations.
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Anti-Israel Activists Gear Up to ‘Flood’ UN General Assembly
US Capitol Police and NYPD officers clash with anti-Israel demonstrators, on the day Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint meeting of Congress, on Capitol Hill, in Washington, DC, July 24, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Umit Bektas
Anti-Israel groups are planning a wave of raucous protests in New York City during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) over the next several days, prompting concerns that the demonstrations could descend into antisemitic rhetoric and intimidation.
A coalition of anti-Israel activists is organizing the protests in and around UN headquarters to coincide with speeches from Middle Eastern leaders and appearances by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The demonstrations are expected to draw large crowds and feature prominent pro-Palestinian voices, some of whom have been criticized for trafficking in antisemitic tropes, in addition to calling for the destruction of Israe.
Organizers of the demonstrations have promoted the coordinated events on social media as an opportunity to pressure world leaders to hold Israel accountable for its military campaign against Hamas in Gaza, with some messaging framed in sharply hostile terms.
On Sunday, for example, activists shouted at Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon.
“Zionism is terrorism. All you guys are terrorists committing ethnic cleansing and genocide in Gaza and Palestine. Shame on you, Zionist animals,” they shouted.
BREAKING: PRO-PALESTINE PROTESTORS CONFRONT “ISRAELI” AMBASSADOR DANNY DANON AT THE UNITED NATIONS
1/5 pic.twitter.com/4G1VYEMGzV
— Within Our Lifetime (@WOLPalestine) September 14, 2025
The Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM), warned on its website that the scale and tone of the planned demonstrations risk crossing the line from political protest into hate speech, arguing that anti-Israel activists are attempting to hijack the UN gathering to spread antisemitism and delegitimize the Jewish state’s right to exist.
Outside the UN last week, masked protesters belonging to the activist group INDECLINE kicked a realistic replica of Netanyahu’s decapitated head as though it were a soccer ball.
US activist group plays soccer with Bibi’s mock decapitated HEAD right outside NYC UN HQ
Peep shot at 00:40
Footage posted by INDECLINE collective just as UN General Assembly about to kick off
‘Following the game, ball was donated to Palestinian Genocide Museum’ pic.twitter.com/TQ84sgZhKr
— RT (@RT_com) September 9, 2025
Within Our Lifetime (WOL), a radical anti-Israel activist group, has vowed to “flood” the UNGA on behalf of the pro-Palestine movement.
WOL, one of the most prolific anti-Israel activist groups, came under immense fire after it organized a protest against an exhibition to honor the victims of the Oct. 7 massacre at the Nova Music Festival in southern Israel. During the event, the group chanted “resistance is justified when people are occupied!” and “Israel, go to hell!”
“We will be there to confront them with the truth: Their silence and inaction enable genocide. The world cannot continue as if Gaza does not exist,” WOL said of its planned demonstrations in New York. “This is the time to make our voices impossible to ignore. Come to New York by any means necessary, to stand, to march, to demand the UN act and end the siege.”
Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), two other anti-Israel organizations that have helped organize widespread demonstrations against the Jewish state during the war in Gaza, also announced they are planning a march from Times Square to the UN headquarters on Friday.
“The time is now for each and every UN member state to uphold their duty under international law: sanction Israel and end the genocide,” the groups said in a statement.
JVP, an organization that purports to fight for “Palestinian liberation,” has positioned itself as a staunch adversary of the Jewish state. The group argued in a 2021 booklet that Jews should not write Hebrew liturgy because hearing the language would be “deeply traumatizing” to Palestinians. JVP has repeatedly defended the Oct. 7 massacre of roughly 1,200 people in southern Israel by Hamas as a justified “resistance.” Chapters of the organization have urged other self-described “progressives” to throw their support behind Hamas and other terrorist groups against Israel
Similarly, PYM, another radical anti-Israel group, has repeatedly defended terrorism and violence against the Jewish state. PYM has organized many anti-Israel protests in the two years following the Oct. 7 attacks in the Jewish state. Recently, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AK) called for a federal investigation into the organization after Aisha Nizar, one of the group’s leaders, urged supporters to sabotage the US supply chain for the F-35 fighter jet, one of the most advanced US military assets and a critical component of Israel’s defense.
The UN General Assembly has historically been a flashpoint for heated debate over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Previous gatherings have seen dueling demonstrations outside the Manhattan venue, with pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian groups both seeking to influence the international spotlight.
While warning about the demonstrations, CAM noted it recently launched a new mobile app, Report It, that allows users worldwide to quickly and securely report antisemitic incidents in real time.
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Nina Davidson Presses Universities to Back Words With Action as Jewish Students Return to Campus Amid Antisemitism Crisis
Nina Davidson on The Algemeiner’s ‘J100’ podcast. Photo: Screenshot
Philanthropist Nina Davidson, who served on the board of Barnard College, has called on universities to pair tough rhetoric on combatting antisemitism with enforcement as Jewish students returned to campuses for the new academic year.
“Years ago, The Algemeiner had published a list ranking the most antisemitic colleges in the country. And number one was Columbia,” Davidson recalled on a recent episode of The Algemeiner‘s “J100” podcast. “As a board member and as someone who was representing the institution, it really upset me … At the board meeting, I brought it up and I said, ‘What are we going to do about this?’”
Host David Cohen, chief executive officer of The Algemeiner, explained he had revisited Davidson’s remarks while she was being honored for her work at The Algemeiner‘s 8th annual J100 gala, held in October 2021, noting their continued relevance.
“It could have been the same speech in 2025,” he said, underscoring how longstanding concerns about campus antisemitism, while having intensified in the aftermath of Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, are not new.
Davidson argued that universities already possess the tools to protect students – codes of conduct, time-place-manner rules, and consequences for threats or targeted harassment – but too often fail to apply them evenly. “Statements are not enough,” she said, arguing that institutions need to enforce their rules and set a precedent that there will be consequences for individuals who refuse to follow them.
She also said that stakeholders – alumni, parents, and donors – are reassessing their relationships with schools that, in their view, have not safeguarded Jewish students. While supportive of open debate, Davidson distinguished between protest and intimidation, calling for leadership that protects expression while ensuring campus safety.
The episode surveyed specific pressure points that administrators will face this fall: repeat anti-Israel encampments, disruptions of Jewish programming, and the challenge of distinguishing political speech from conduct that violates university rules. “Unless schools draw those lines now,” Davidson warned, “they’ll be scrambling once the next crisis hits.”
Cohen closed by framing the discussion as a test of institutional credibility, asking whether universities will “turn policy into protection” in real time. Davidson agreed, pointing to students who “need to know the rules aren’t just on paper.”
The full conversation is available on The Algemeiner’s “J100” podcast.