Yisrael Katz, Israel’s transport and intelligence minister, is in Oman to discuss his revolutionary proposal for a new system of shipping by sea and rail to and from the Middle East (See: Israeli Transport Minister in Oman on Official Visit – US Envoy Says Trip ‘Supports Our Efforts’).
Katz proposes creating a freight rail network between Israel and Jordan, linking it through Jordan to other Arab countries. Israel would become the hub for shipping to the Middle East by sea, and the goods would then be freighted via the railway hub in Jordan. Katz argues that his proposed system in effect would revive the Hejaz railway, the Ottoman-era line that connected Damascus with Medina in the Arabian peninsula.
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