Culture and Sport Minister Miri Regev sent an unusual personal appeal to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to the Israeli financial daily TheMarker. Regev warned that trade routes Turkey is advancing in the region to bypass Israel pose a genuine strategic danger to national security, and called for urgent personal intervention by the premier to integrate Israel into the IMEC corridor project.
Culture and Sport Minister Miri Regev has sent an extraordinary appeal to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, warning that trade corridors Turkey is developing in the region to bypass Israel constitute a real strategic threat to national security. The appeal was reported Sunday by the Israeli financial daily TheMarker. Regev called for the prime minister's urgent personal intervention to secure Israel's integration into the India-Middle East-Europe (IMEC) corridor project.
The IMEC initiative — a proposed trade link connecting India, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, and Europe — has been the subject of intensifying rivalry between Israel and Turkey. As The Zioneer has reported, Turkish and Syrian officials have been promoting a competing corridor that would bypass Israel entirely, shifting the trade axis through Syria and Turkey. Israeli analysts have described an all-out race between the two countries over the strategic route, which is seen as a potential counterweight to Iranian influence and a stabilizer for the region.
Regev's appeal marks a rare direct intervention by a minister on an economic-geopolitical issue, reflecting growing concern within the Israeli government about Turkey's assertive regional trade strategy. The Marker report did not specify whether Netanyahu has responded to the appeal. The IMEC project remains in the planning stages, with no announced timeline for execution.
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