Israel has rejected proposals from Arab businessmen in the West Bank and Jordan to build a new seaport in Gaza. Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin told a group of them at a meeting Sunday that the project was neither economical nor practical and Israel does not have the budget for it.
Marwan Doudin, Jordan’s Minister for the administered territories, raised the proposal at a press conference last week. He said a new port in Gaza would further Jordan’s efforts to improve the economy in the West Bank and Gaza Strip which are administered by Israel.
He argued that the port would promote Arab exports, especially agricultural products, which are unable to compete with Israeli exports, partly because of lack of access to the sea. Rabin said he would be willing to consider specific plans for a Gaza port if they were submitted.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
