UAE–Israel land corridor

The UAE–Israel land corridor is a primarily land-based trade route which runs from ports in Bahrain and United Arab Emirates across Saudi Arabia and Jordan, into Israel, and Egypt, leading from the Persian Gulf straight to Israel's seaports. The corridor was officially established on 13 December 2023.

Background

Abraham Accords

Main article: Abraham Accords

On 15 September 2020, after the Abraham Accords, a bilateral agreement on Arab–Israeli normalization between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and between Israel and Bahrain,^[1][2] and in the midst of the normalization talks between Saudi Arabia and Israel^[3] Mediated by the United States,^[4] the land transportation corridor project was launched.

Red Sea crisis

Main article: Red Sea crisis

on 28 November 2023, following Israel's ongoing bombardment and raid of the Gaza Strip, Yemen's Houthis launched multiple attacks on ships allegedly moving towards Israel via the Red Sea in support of the Palestinians. The leader of the Houthis, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, warned the United States against intervening in support of Israel, threatening that such an intervention would Drone and missile attacks would have a retaliatory response.^[5] The Houthis announced that the condition for ending their attacks in the Red Sea is a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas and an end to Israel's Blockade of the Gaza Strip.^[6][7] The Red Sea crisis in maritime trade, ongoing attacks by Houthi militias on cargo ships, and retaliatory naval and air strikes against the Houthis by US-led Multinational Operation Prosperity Guardian, Israel's shipping and logistics companies have been forced to bypass the Red Sea and use alternative land routes to transport goods from the Far East to Israel.^[8]

Establishment

On 7 July 2023 Ynet reported that after the Abraham Accords and the development of relations with Arab countries, Israel and the United States are working on a project to establish a continuous trade land bridge connecting the Persian Gulf directly to the seaports of Israel via Jordan, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. It is set to expand to Bahrain and Oman later, Ynet reported.^[9]

On 13 December 2023 Israeli officials said, the UAE-Israel land corridor to deliver cargo from the Persian Gulf States to Israel through Saudi Arabia and Jordan is up and running as an alternative route following the Yemeni group's attacks in the Red Sea. this trade corridor connects from the port of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates or Bahrain, across Saudi Arabia and Jordan, into Israel, and Egypt, leading from the Persian Gulf straight to Israel's seaports.^[9][10] Hanan Fridman, founder at Trucknet Enterprise, an Eilat-based Israeli startup that provides logistics technology for the Arab companies that make the journey, announced that they established an alternative overland trade route e to transfer goods and bypass the Houthi crisis in the Red Sea.^[8] Friedman said that while "sharp demand" for land cargo services grew exponentially in the wake of the Red Sea crisis, the "Land Connectivity by Trucks" project was operational before the Israel-Hamas war on 7 October.^[11][12] This corridor made it possible to transport cargo between Dubai Gulf and the port of Haifa in Israel, while significantly reducing cost and time. In such a way that a 14-day sea journey has been reduced to only four days through this land route.^[12]

See also

• Arab League
• Arab League and the Arab–Israeli conflict
• Foreign relations of the Arab League
• Foreign relations of Israel

References

1. "Moroccan Foreign Minister Bourita Says Abraham Accords Provide "Incredible Momentum" for Peace in Middle East | AJC". www.ajc.org. June 12, 2023.
2. Federico-O'Murchú, Seán (August 13, 2020). "Read the full statement by the US, Israel and UAE on normalizing Israel-UAE relations". CNN. Archived from the original on 2020-11-15. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
3. Zeidan, Adam (1 May 2024). "Israeli-Saudi peace deal". Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
4. Riechmann, Deb; Lee, Matthew; Lemire, Jonathan (August 13, 2020). "Israel signs pacts with 2 Arab states: A 'new' Mideast?". Associated Press. Archived from the original on February 15, 2021. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
5. Copp, Tara and Baldor, Lolita C. (19 October 2023). "US military shoots down missiles and drones as it faces growing threats in volatile Middle East". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 19 October 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
6. "By bombing Yemen, the west risks repeating its own mistakes". The Guardian. 12 January 2024. Archived from the original on 14 January 2024. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
7. Michaelis, Tamar (10 December 2023). "Israel ready to act against Houthi rebels if international community fails to, national security adviser says". CNN. Archived from the original on 22 December 2023. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
8. Odenheimer and Murray, Alisa and Brendan (2 February 2024). "Red Sea Attacks Force Firms to Test New Land Routes Via UAE, Saudi". Bloomberg News.
9. Dutton, Jack (18 July 2023). "Work on Israel-Saudi land bridge has begun". Al-Monitor.
10. "UAE-Israel land corridor operating despite war". Jewish News Syndicate. 14 December 2023.
11. Wrobel, Sharon (27 December 2023). "Israel logistics startup forges overland trade route to bypass Houthi Red Sea crisis". The Times of Israel.
12. "UAE-Israel land corridor expanding to Egypt". Jewish News Syndicate. 24 December 2023.