Opinion: How Israel's dream of being the Middle East's trade hub is unravelling

The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) has died at its Israeli end. Gulf states and their allies are now racing to build rival lines. In June, the Saudi and Turkish transport ministers signed memoranda to revive the Ottoman-era Hejaz railway as a corridor connecting their nations via Jordan and Syria - routed deliberately around Israel. And the UAE has opened talks on a trade route from the Syrian coast through Iraq to its own Gulf ports. And in July, DP World signed a 50-year concessionwith the Fujairah authorities to build two terminals on the UAE’s Arabian Sea coast, the Al-Rughailat container port among them, expressly so cargo can be landed and moved on without ever passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Read more: How Israel's dream of being the Middle East's trade hub is unravelling Opinion by Ahmed Alqarout A ship docks at the Emirati port of Jebel Ali on 18 June 2020 (Karim Sahib/AFP)