The Ben Gurion Canal Project – A New Maritime Route

Context:

• This article is based on an Editorial “A plan to join the Red Sea with Mediterranean — an alternative to the Suez Canal” which was published in the Indian Express. It has been speculated by a few experts that one of the reasons behind Israel’s desire to eliminate Hamas from the Gaza Strip is the interest in building the Ben Gurion Canal Project.
• The Project, named after Israel’s founding father David Ben-Gurion, was first envisioned in the 1960s and remains one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects ever planned on paper.

About the Ben Gurion Canal Project

• Location: The idea is to cut a canal through the Israeli-controlled Negev Desert from the tip of the Gulf of Aqaba (the eastern arm of the Red Sea) to the Eastern Mediterranean coast.
• Significance: Creating an alternative to the Egyptian-controlled Suez Canal.
  • Ben Gurion Canal would transform global maritime dynamics by taking away Egypt’s monopoly over the shortest route between Europe and Asia.

What has stopped Israel from Constructing the Ben Gurion Canal?

• Extremely Expensive and Complex: The estimated cost of Ben Gurion Canal is $ 100 billion, much more than what it might take to widen the Suez Canal and solve its traffic problem.
  • For such a high digging cost, an option of nuclear excavation was suggested. However, the risk of nuclear fallout makes this option extremely risky as well.
• Geographical Limitations: The planned route of the Ben Gurion Canal is over 100 km longer than the Suez Canal, primarily due to limitations of the terrain and topography. Even if built, many ships might still favor the older, shorter route.
• Military Threat: Ben Gurion Canal which will potentially transport billions of dollars worth of freight daily would be under constant military threat, from Hamas rockets or Israeli attacks.

The Salience of Suez Canal

• Location of the Suez Canal: It starts from the western arm of the Red Sea and passes to the southeastern Mediterranean through the northern Sinai peninsula.
• Revolution in Trade: It was opened in 1869 and revolutionized global maritime trade. 
• • In the year 2022-23, around 26,000 vessels crossed the Suez Canal, accounting for approximately 13% of global shipping.
• Time-Saving Route: It connects the Mediterranean and Red Seas through the Isthmus of Suez.
  • By using this route, ships traveling between Europe and Asia would not have to travel all the way around the continent of Africa. 
  • The canal cut the distance between London and Mumbai by more than 41%
• Critical to Egypt’s Economy: Egypt collects all the toll revenue generated, in addition to the benefits it brings to its local economy. 
  • As per the World Bank, in the year 2022-23, Egypt’s Suez Canal Authority saw toll revenues reach a record $ 9.4 billion (nearly 2% of Egypt’s GDP). 

Issues faced by the Suez Canal:

• Bottleneck: 
  • Highly Congested: Despite being widened and deepened over the years, it remains perennially congested. 
  • Example: In March 2021, the mammoth cargo ship Ever Given got stuck in the canal, blocking passage for more than a week. 
  • Revenue Loss: It was estimated that the resulting “traffic jam” held up an estimated $ 9.6 billion of goods every day.
• Reason for Conflict: Egypt’s control over the waterway has been a source of conflict for almost 70 years now. 
  • Example: In 1956, after President Gamal Abdel Nasser, decided to nationalize the canal, war broke out, with the UK, France, and Israel attacking Egypt in order to regain control.
    • The Suez Crisis ended in a military victory for the aggressors but a political victory for Egypt, which kept control over the canal. 
  • The Suez Canal was also the focal point of both the 1967 and 1973 Arab-Israeli wars and was shut from 1967-75.

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