- Mar 3, 2006
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Finally, some constructive activity in the area from the only stable state in it.
Israel Builds Railway in Hope of Boosting Commerce With Arab Neighbors
By Orr Hirschauge and Rory Jones - WSJ - June 22, 2016
Israel Builds Railway in Hope of Boosting Commerce With Arab Neighbors
PIX at bottom
Posted in entirety due to subscription issue (II think), otherwise I would have just posted first few paragraphs.
Israel Builds Railway in Hope of Boosting Commerce With Arab Neighbors
By Orr Hirschauge and Rory Jones - WSJ - June 22, 2016
Israel Builds Railway in Hope of Boosting Commerce With Arab Neighbors
PIX at bottom
Posted in entirety due to subscription issue (II think), otherwise I would have just posted first few paragraphs.
JEZREEL VALLEY, IsraelāMore than a hundred years ago, the Ottoman Empire built a railway line that shuttled goods on steam locomotives from the Mediterranean Sea to the souks of Damascus and the Saudi holy city of Medina.
Now Israel is poised to open new tracks tracing the old line between the port city of Haifa and a terminal 5 miles short of the Jordanian border. The effort is a bid to boost moribund commerce with the countryās Arab neighbors. But they have officially given the project a frosty reception, hampering its prospects even as trade flourishes along the route.
The former Hejaz Railway connected the area that is now Israel with the Arab world further east, running through territory now riven by Middle East borders. After the establishment of Israel in 1948, it was dismantled and regional trade was blunted by a series of Arab-Israeli wars, as well as by failed attempts to reach a comprehensive peace settlement and establish a Palestinian state.
āWe always thought that this line symbolizes peace with the region,ā said Ilan Rozenfeld, the project director for the new 40-mile railway line, as he rode in an electric train carriage through the fertile green plains of the Jezreel Valley southwest of the Sea of Galilee. āWe have been waiting for a long time.ā
The new line, built at a cost of roughly $1 billion and set to open in October, holds some promise, Israelās transportation ministry says. Trade through Israel via road has increased in recent years as shipping companies have avoided Syria, where war has been raging since 2011, according to Israeli and Jordanian officials and shipping companies.
Cargo handled at the Sheikh Hussein border crossing between Israel and Jordan increased 65% between 2010 and 2015, with the number of cargo and containers trucks using this route nearly quadrupling in that time, according to data from the Israeli Airports Authority.
More firms have been bringing boats into Haifa bearing containers and trucks that then travel by road to Jordan and on to Saudi Arabia, Iraq and the Gulf, carrying Spanish oranges, Jordanian textiles and car parts from Europe.
On a recent morning at Haifa port, 43-year-old Turkish driver Nazem Mohammed unloaded his truck from a ship that had come from Mersin in Turkey. He used to drive through Syria to get his vegetables and fruits to Jordanās capital, Amman. Now he has to either go by sea via the Suez Canal to deliver goods to Saudi Arabia, or over land through Israel to Jordan.
The Israeli route āis the best way for businessā as it is cheaper and takes less time, said Mr. Mohammed, a 20-year veteran trucker, while playing cards with a fellow driver in the shadow of his vehicle. āThis makes it a promising route.ā
Yet development of the trade route is being hampered by competing economic and political interests, underscoring the obstacles Israel faces in becoming a regional trade gateway.
Israelās Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz said a proposal has been discussed with Jordanās King Abdullah II and Jordanian government officials to eventually connect the new railway line to a network in Jordan, which could then link with railways Saudi Arabia plans to develop. Such ties would truly revive the Hejaz Railway, which first opened in 1908.
But the prospect of getting any goods out of Israel on the railway still appears highly uncertain, at least in the near term. Arab officials are reticent to publicly discuss ties with Israel, including transportation issues, for fear of alienating their pro-Palestinian public.
āThere is nothing that Iāve heard about a railway project to connect Israel and Jordan,ā said Ayman Hatahet, who was Jordanās minister of transportation until recently. Attempts to reach his successor, part of a new Jordanian government sworn in earlier this month, were unsuccessful.
Transferring Turkish exports via Israel on rail or road is impossible to Arab countries with which Israel doesnāt have diplomatic relations, such as Saudi Arabia, Mr. Hatahet said. A spokesman for Saudi Arabiaās foreign ministry didnāt respond to requests for comment.
Informal relations with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries are handled under the table, ābut it is clear that the cargo flows,ā Mr. Katz said. āWe are a gateway to the East.ā
Israeli and Jordanian officials and shipping companies say some of the goods coming through Israel are intended for markets in countries, such as the Gulf states, with which Israel has no formal relationships.
Israelās new railway faces competition from other routes. Most of the trade between Europe and the Arab world passes through Egypt, which last year opened a revamped Suez Canal at a cost of $8.5 billion. Jordan also is promoting its Red Sea port of Aqaba as an entry point to the Arab world.
Turkey and Jordan are in discussions about using Aqaba to unload trucks from ships that would go via the Suez Canal, according to a Turkish diplomat. āWe are aware of the need to develop alternative transportation routes because of the regional situation,ā he said.
The Jezreel Valley rail line isnāt the first Israeli project aimed at boosting regional economic ties to be slowed in its tracks. Attempts to deepen energy relations in recent years by exporting gas from Israel to Jordan and Egypt have been stymied by political squabbling. Tourism between Israel and Arab states has suffered amid heightened security threats and a lack of movement on resolving the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Rafi Yariv, a retired farmer living in the Jezreel Valley, remains optimistic about the railway. He remembers a time as a child when he rode along the old line to visit relatives. Describing the old train as a āsoulful huffing-and-puffing iron beast,ā the 73-year-old Israeli is now planning to take his grandchildren for a ride on the new trains.
He says he hopes the line will āend up going all the way to Amman, bringing on normalization [with Arab states] and prosperity.ā
Workers build the Hejaz Railway near Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, in 1906.LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
A train travels along the tracks near Amman, Jordan, in the early 20th century. MARY EVANS PICTURE LIBRARY/EVERETT COLLECTION
The railroad sits in disrepair in Saudi Arabia in 1989. PHOTO: PETER JORDAN/ALAMY
`
Now Israel is poised to open new tracks tracing the old line between the port city of Haifa and a terminal 5 miles short of the Jordanian border. The effort is a bid to boost moribund commerce with the countryās Arab neighbors. But they have officially given the project a frosty reception, hampering its prospects even as trade flourishes along the route.
The former Hejaz Railway connected the area that is now Israel with the Arab world further east, running through territory now riven by Middle East borders. After the establishment of Israel in 1948, it was dismantled and regional trade was blunted by a series of Arab-Israeli wars, as well as by failed attempts to reach a comprehensive peace settlement and establish a Palestinian state.
āWe always thought that this line symbolizes peace with the region,ā said Ilan Rozenfeld, the project director for the new 40-mile railway line, as he rode in an electric train carriage through the fertile green plains of the Jezreel Valley southwest of the Sea of Galilee. āWe have been waiting for a long time.ā
The new line, built at a cost of roughly $1 billion and set to open in October, holds some promise, Israelās transportation ministry says. Trade through Israel via road has increased in recent years as shipping companies have avoided Syria, where war has been raging since 2011, according to Israeli and Jordanian officials and shipping companies.
Cargo handled at the Sheikh Hussein border crossing between Israel and Jordan increased 65% between 2010 and 2015, with the number of cargo and containers trucks using this route nearly quadrupling in that time, according to data from the Israeli Airports Authority.
More firms have been bringing boats into Haifa bearing containers and trucks that then travel by road to Jordan and on to Saudi Arabia, Iraq and the Gulf, carrying Spanish oranges, Jordanian textiles and car parts from Europe.
On a recent morning at Haifa port, 43-year-old Turkish driver Nazem Mohammed unloaded his truck from a ship that had come from Mersin in Turkey. He used to drive through Syria to get his vegetables and fruits to Jordanās capital, Amman. Now he has to either go by sea via the Suez Canal to deliver goods to Saudi Arabia, or over land through Israel to Jordan.
The Israeli route āis the best way for businessā as it is cheaper and takes less time, said Mr. Mohammed, a 20-year veteran trucker, while playing cards with a fellow driver in the shadow of his vehicle. āThis makes it a promising route.ā
Yet development of the trade route is being hampered by competing economic and political interests, underscoring the obstacles Israel faces in becoming a regional trade gateway.
Israelās Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz said a proposal has been discussed with Jordanās King Abdullah II and Jordanian government officials to eventually connect the new railway line to a network in Jordan, which could then link with railways Saudi Arabia plans to develop. Such ties would truly revive the Hejaz Railway, which first opened in 1908.
But the prospect of getting any goods out of Israel on the railway still appears highly uncertain, at least in the near term. Arab officials are reticent to publicly discuss ties with Israel, including transportation issues, for fear of alienating their pro-Palestinian public.
āThere is nothing that Iāve heard about a railway project to connect Israel and Jordan,ā said Ayman Hatahet, who was Jordanās minister of transportation until recently. Attempts to reach his successor, part of a new Jordanian government sworn in earlier this month, were unsuccessful.
Transferring Turkish exports via Israel on rail or road is impossible to Arab countries with which Israel doesnāt have diplomatic relations, such as Saudi Arabia, Mr. Hatahet said. A spokesman for Saudi Arabiaās foreign ministry didnāt respond to requests for comment.
Informal relations with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries are handled under the table, ābut it is clear that the cargo flows,ā Mr. Katz said. āWe are a gateway to the East.ā
Israeli and Jordanian officials and shipping companies say some of the goods coming through Israel are intended for markets in countries, such as the Gulf states, with which Israel has no formal relationships.
Israelās new railway faces competition from other routes. Most of the trade between Europe and the Arab world passes through Egypt, which last year opened a revamped Suez Canal at a cost of $8.5 billion. Jordan also is promoting its Red Sea port of Aqaba as an entry point to the Arab world.
Turkey and Jordan are in discussions about using Aqaba to unload trucks from ships that would go via the Suez Canal, according to a Turkish diplomat. āWe are aware of the need to develop alternative transportation routes because of the regional situation,ā he said.
The Jezreel Valley rail line isnāt the first Israeli project aimed at boosting regional economic ties to be slowed in its tracks. Attempts to deepen energy relations in recent years by exporting gas from Israel to Jordan and Egypt have been stymied by political squabbling. Tourism between Israel and Arab states has suffered amid heightened security threats and a lack of movement on resolving the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Rafi Yariv, a retired farmer living in the Jezreel Valley, remains optimistic about the railway. He remembers a time as a child when he rode along the old line to visit relatives. Describing the old train as a āsoulful huffing-and-puffing iron beast,ā the 73-year-old Israeli is now planning to take his grandchildren for a ride on the new trains.
He says he hopes the line will āend up going all the way to Amman, bringing on normalization [with Arab states] and prosperity.ā
Workers build the Hejaz Railway near Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, in 1906.LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
A train travels along the tracks near Amman, Jordan, in the early 20th century. MARY EVANS PICTURE LIBRARY/EVERETT COLLECTION
The railroad sits in disrepair in Saudi Arabia in 1989. PHOTO: PETER JORDAN/ALAMY
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