Israeli Minister Rallies for Offshore Gaza Seaport
Detractors Warn Israel Will Have To Attack It in Next War With Hamas
Barbara Opall-Rome, Defense News 4:30 p.m. EDT July 19, 2016
http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/international/mideast-africa/2016/07/19/israel-gaza-strip-sea-port-hamas/87306432/

TEL AVIV — An Israeli minister who holds portfolios for intelligence and
transportation said at a conference Tuesday that some in the government are
becoming more receptive to allowing a seaport to be built off the shores of
Gaza.

Yisrael Katz of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party said the
offshore seaport — an envisioned 3-square-mile artificial island connected
to Gaza by a 5 kilometer bridge — should be brought up soon for Cabinet
discussion.

“I hope that we’ll take a decision in the government in the appropriate
forum to advance this,” Katz told participants at an international
conference on intelligence and special forces here. “I see that there is a
wider understanding and people are becoming more receptive to this idea,
which will create positive conditions for the two million people of Gaza
without jeopardizing Israel’s security."

In his July 19 address, Katz estimated costs of the project at some $5
billion — funds that would come from interested countries in the region and
private initiatives.

“Funding is a small problem. Many countries are interested … and there are
private initiatives for infrastructure initiatives," he said.

He specifically mentioned Turkey, with whom Israel recently concluded a
reconciliation agreement after six years of virtual estrangement.

“The Turks said they want to build a desalination plant and a power plant on
the shores of Gaza. I say why spoil the beach? You can do it much more
efficiently offshore,” Katz said.

According to Katz, Israel must do what it can, within security constraints
and in consideration of its peace partner in Egypt, to prevent a
humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

“The whole subject of Gaza carries with it enough obstacles, whether
historical, ideological or securitywise. That’s why in this place, it is
possible to support this. Otherwise I wouldn’t be favoring this option,” he
said.

“If Egypt was willing to allow citizens of Gaza to go by way of its seaports
and its airports, we wouldn’t need this island. But Egypt is completely not
willing to do this, due to very legitimate reasons,” he added. “And if the
security establishment here would say we couldn’t secure this island, this
option wouldn’t be relevant. But this is not the case.”

Under Katz’s plan, the offshore port would require three security zones and
inspection points, two of them controlled by Israel and the third — the 5
kilometer bridge — to be secured through an international mechanism.

“Obviously this would require interagency coordination and international
cooperation,” Katz said.

Katz did not address Palestinian receptivity to such a plan or specifics on
how the West Bank's Palestinian Authority (PA) would manage to secure
cooperation with its bitter rival Hamas, which administers the Gaza Strip.

The idea for a maritime port in Gaza has been bandied about for years in the
context of creating conditions necessary for a two-state peace deal between
Israel and the Palestinians. However, neither the Israeli nor Palestinian
sides ever made progress to the point of elevating the idea to the concrete
planning stages.

In a report released earlier this summer by Commanders for Israel’s Security
(CIS), a group of more than 200 retired Israeli generals flagged the
long-term project as one that could significantly contribute to a more
favorable environment, regardless of whether serious negotiations between
the parties could be resumed.

Their “Security First” plan prescribes Israel’s unilateral support for a
seaport for its own national interests, even in the absence of a serious
peace partner on the other side. Their only caveat was that PA — not Hamas —
would have to share responsibility with Israel for safeguarding and
operating the facility.

“This project is of great symbolic import to all Palestinians. In exchange
for such an outlet to the Mediterranean Sea, Hamas will have to accept
Israel’s security demands — first and foremost strict security inspections
of all goods and individuals entering Gaza, but also PA control — or risk
being blamed for blocking the project,” CIS wrote.

It added: “Authorizing the relevant international and local agencies —
including the PA — to begin planning the facility will pay immediate
dividends in the international community’s attitude towards Israel’s policy
on Gaza.”

Rear Adm. Yossi Ashkenazi, head of the Israeli Navy’s Materiel Command, said
the service is equipped to secure the waters around the offshore island as
it does today off the Gazan coast. He noted, however, that the decision
would be driven by political considerations rather than operational or
technical grounds.

“The question of the port in Gaza, I know it well. I dealt with it. From the
point of engineering, there is no problem to build a sea passage to the Gaza
Strip. But this is a political issue. It is not connected to the Navy,”
Ashkenazi said.

When asked if the idea was likely to be endorsed by the government, a senior
security advisor to Netanyahu responded in the negative.

“There are pros and cons, and indeed there will be discussion on this soon.
Our position is what happens to that $5 billion investment and our relations
with all the interested parties when the next war comes around in Gaza and
we need to bomb the place?”

Twitter: @opallrome