A proposed Saudi-Turkish railway linking the Persian Gulf to Europe through Jordan, Syria and Turkey has sparked concern in Israel, where officials view the project as a challenge to the country’s role in regional trade and as a potential rival to another route Israel has backed to connect India to Europe via the Gulf and Israel.
Israeli concerns extend beyond transportation and the fate of its preferred India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, or IMEC. The new proposal is emerging as the Middle East undergoes a broader geopolitical realignment, marked by Turkey’s expanding influence in Syria and the Gulf states’ scramble to secure alternatives to vulnerable maritime trade routes.
Israeli Transport Minister Miri Regev warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a letter made public that the region is witnessing “the rapid formation of regional partnerships in trade and energy that deliberately bypass Israel and pose a genuine strategic threat to national security.”
Regev urged Washington to intervene and restrain major regional trade initiatives that exclude Israel.
Security Concerns
Israeli officials say the Saudi-Turkish initiative carries strategic and security implications beyond its commercial objectives, citing what they describe as ideological and religious dimensions.
“Any cooperation built on security and military ties that is aimed at undermining Israel is a cause for concern,” former Israeli Communications and Media Minister Ayoub Kara told MBN, adding that Israel would have no objection to the project if it genuinely contributed to regional stability.
Mendi Safadi, head of the Israeli Safadi Center for International Diplomacy, Research, Public Relations and Human Rights and a member of the ruling Likud Party, said the project poses “both security and economic risks” not only to Israel but also to Europe.
“Turkey could use this trade corridor as leverage to advance its political objectives,” he said.
Reviving the Hejaz Railway
Saudi officials portray the project as a modern revival and extension of the historic Hejaz Railway, emphasizing its cultural symbolism and its role in rebuilding historical ties across the region.
Salem Al-Yami, a former adviser at the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told MBN that the project draws inspiration from the Ottoman-era railway built in 1900, that spanned the 1,300 kilometers from Damascus to Medina.
Israel’s objections, Al-Yami said, reflect “the excessive anxiety and fear that characterize Israeli military and political thinking.”
The proposed corridor is designed as a strategic logistics route linking the Gulf states to Europe through Jordan, Syria and Turkey.
Several months before Saudi Arabia and Turkey signed their memorandum of understanding, the transport ministries of Turkey, Syria and Jordan reached a separate agreement establishing a five-year technical roadmap to rehabilitate transportation infrastructure across the three countries.
Israel’s objections “underscore the project’s significance and increase its strategic value,” said Omer Özkizilcik, a Turkish foreign policy analyst close to Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), and reflect broader tensions between Ankara and Jerusalem.
“Turkey Is Trying to Replace Iran”
The proposed railway would extend more than 3,000 kilometers, carrying freight, passengers, oil and natural gas.
The route would connect Saudi Arabia directly to Jordan’s Port of Aqaba before continuing north through Amman, Damascus and Aleppo to the Turkish border. From there, it would connect to Turkey’s extensive rail network, providing direct access to European markets.
Kara argued that the project’s scale reflects Turkey’s broader regional ambitions.
“Turkey is trying to expand its influence and assume Iran’s role in the region as Tehran’s influence declines,” he said, adding that Israel “must prepare for every scenario.”
Safadi echoed that assessment, saying Turkey’s ambitions extend beyond Israel and are aimed at “dominating the Middle East and reviving the Ottoman Empire”—a prospect that, he said, concerns many Israelis.
A Regional Land Transport Network
Economic analysts view the Saudi-Turkish initiative as the beginning of a broader cross-border land transportation network that could improve regional economic integration.
Saudi analyst Al-Yami said the countries backing the project are members of the international system and that their infrastructure plans pose no threat to international peace or security.
He expressed concern that Israel could seek to obstruct the project, while Özkizilcik argued that Turkey and Saudi Arabia’s joint diplomatic efforts in Washington could outweigh Israeli lobbying.
A Rival to the India-Europe Corridor
Israel views the growing number of regional agreements and memoranda of understanding as a potential alternative to the trade architecture it had hoped would integrate Israel into Gulf-Europe commerce.
Kara said projects become problematic when they are driven by military objectives “in a region already vulnerable to extremism and terrorism.”
The Saudi-Turkish initiative is increasingly viewed as a competitor to the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, which was formally unveiled during the 2023 G20 summit in New Delhi. The IMEC proposal envisions freight moving from ships to rail networks through the United Arab Emirates and Israel, with Israel’s Port of Haifa serving as the gateway to European markets.
According to the Middle East Council on Global Affairs, the project could reduce shipping times by as much as 40 percent by integrating maritime and rail transport.
Kara described IMEC as “a purely economic project” intended to improve transportation efficiency, contrasting it with what he characterized as the Turkish-Saudi initiative’s broader strategic and ideological objectives.
Safadi said the new railway was designed either to replace or undermine the India-Europe corridor. He added that Israel’s principal concern is that the project could weaken efforts to expand normalization with Arab states, both economically and politically.
Obstacles Remain
A report by the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies supports elements of the Israeli assessment, arguing that Turkey’s support for reviving the Hejaz Railway is partly driven by its desire to reduce Israel’s role in regional trade.
The report, however, concludes that implementation is unlikely in the near term. It cites significant financial and security challenges, noting that the project’s success will depend on securing financing and improving security conditions across participating countries.
No clear financing mechanism or governance framework has yet been established, and participating governments would need to harmonize railway regulations and establish joint security arrangements before construction could proceed.
Competition between the two corridors reflects a broader contest over the future of global trade routes as countries seek alternatives to maritime chokepoints vulnerable to geopolitical tensions. If realized, the Saudi-Turkish railway could significantly reshape the region’s economic geography and alter the balance of commercial influence across the Middle East.
Adapted and translated from the original Arabic.
