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What is Israel’s IMEC Plan?
The geopolitical landscape of the Middle East is witnessing a profound transformation; a shift stemming from Israel’s strategic pivot from mere military dominance to economic influence. At the center of this grand strategy lies the “India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor” (IMEC); a plan aimed at redefining regional trade routes by connecting India to Europe via Gulf countries and Israel’s Haifa port.
This initiative, supported by the United States, on paper turns Israel into a pivotal trade gateway, normalizing its relations with Arab countries and marginalizing Iran’s economic role. However, this strategy has faced severe resistance; the most prominent being Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, where evidence shows part of its motivation was concern over the normalization of Israel-Saudi Arabia relations and paving the way for Zionism to achieve its ultimate goals (annexing the West Bank and Gaza Strip to occupied territories). In truth, IMEC is a continuation of Zionist historical expansionism that threatens Palestinian sovereignty and exacerbates regional inequalities.
The unveiling of IMEC at the G20 summit in September 2023 was a turning point in Israel’s strategy to redesign the Middle East in its favor. In this regard, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in his speech at the 78th UN General Assembly in 2023, presented a map of the “New Middle East” where the occupied West Bank and Gaza were shown as part of Israel, and Palestinian territorial identity was completely erased.
This provocative action, along with the ambitions outlined in IMEC to turn Israel into the region’s trade hub, raised serious concerns among analysts and pro-Palestinian groups. In this regard, the Hamas movement, citing credible security information, announced that Israel, with a strategy designed to facilitate IMEC’s implementation, was planning a massive attack on Gaza to displace and cleanse its population. In truth, IMEC is a continuation of Zionist colonial ambitions aimed at consolidating Israel’s economic and political dominance and sidelining Palestinians and other regional rivals. Operation Al-Aqsa Flood was a reaction to these very threats.
Israel’s Strategy Expansion from Military Dominance to Economic Hegemony
Israel’s foreign policy has always relied on military interventions, from the 1967 Six-Day War to repeated conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon, and the U.S. attack on Iraq in 2003. Among the goals of these military attacks were securing Israel’s borders, enhancing its regional dominance, and suppressing opposing movements like Hamas and Hezbollah; but the resilience of these groups led to the ineffectiveness of Israel’s military strategies. Today, the “Axis of Resistance” challenges Israel’s dominance and has caused a rethink in its policies. The economic costs of prolonged wars, such as the impact of the 2024 Gaza war on Israel’s GDP, increasingly highlight the limitations of military solutions. It has also pushed Israel to expand its regional dominance actions toward economic strategies, with IMEC emerging as a pivotal initiative.
Therefore, Israel’s focus so far has been on military interventions and occupying surrounding areas; but now it faces increasing resistance from regional and global nations. On the other hand, the heavy economic costs of wars caused a slowdown in this country’s economic growth in 2024. In this situation, IMEC, as a path connecting India through the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Haifa port to Europe, has become a grand economic strategy for Zionists to create regional dependencies linked to Israel. This is not just a superficial change; rather, it’s a sophisticated form of continuing the dominance strategy through economic tools, where economic control replaces mere military dominance to confront and marginalize Israel’s opponents, including Iran, the Palestinian people, and their supporters.
The IMEC Plan: A Path to Israel’s Regional Dominance
IMEC is a multi-layered infrastructure project aimed at connecting India, the Middle East, and Europe through railways, ports, and energy lines. This plan includes two eastern and northern routes: the eastern route connects India to the Persian Gulf, and the northern route links the Persian Gulf to Europe via Israel’s Haifa port.
For Israel, IMEC is an opportunity to upgrade transportation infrastructure, become a major transit hub, and strengthen relations with Gulf countries, especially Saudi Arabia and the UAE. But Zionists have different goals in mind for implementing such a plan. In fact, this project, with the apparent goal of reducing transportation time and costs, has been approved for implementation among partners, but alongside economic benefits for Zionists (infrastructure development, trade enhancement, and relations with Gulf countries), it has more important political objectives like bypassing Iran’s economic control over the Strait of Hormuz and finalizing the goal of ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. Netanyahu’s map, which eliminated Palestinian areas and showed them as part of IMEC’s vision, is also another political tool for annexing all Palestinian territories.
Erasing Palestinian Identity: Netanyahu’s Goal from the IMEC Plan
In his 2023 UN speech, Netanyahu displayed a map where the West Bank and Gaza were part of Israel. Leith Arafeh, Palestine’s representative at the UN, described this action as an “insult” to the UN Charter and principles. Other analysts and experts interpreted this as a prelude to the formal annexation of Palestinian territories and the elimination of their demands for IMEC’s unimpeded implementation. This map is truly aligned with the “Greater Israel” vision desired by Zionists and extremist Jews, like Bezalel Smotrich, and expresses their long-term plan to eliminate Palestinian sovereignty under the guise of economic development.
Operation Al-Aqsa Flood: Hamas’ Reaction to an Existential Threat
Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack was based on information indicating Israel was preparing to displace Gaza’s people. Additionally, the growing closeness of Israel-Saudi Arabia relations, one of the important and influential countries in Zionist goals and ideals like Greater Israel, in the IMEC corridor, was among its triggers. In truth, this was a preemptive action by Palestinians and resistance groups against Israel’s intent to advance in mass annexation policy and achieve its ultimate goals.
The IMEC plan benefits Israel and has no benefits for the Palestinian people (despite Zionists’ false claims); they are still under severe blockades in Gaza and Zionist settlements in the West Bank. Imposing economic deprivation, plans like the Morag Corridor and Philadelphi Corridor in Gaza, are signs of a policy of strict control and geographical division that strengthen the possibility of forced displacement of Palestinians. These policies, according to critics, are overt ethnic cleansing; an approach that occurred in 1948 and is now reactivated in a new way under projects like IMEC.
U.S. Support for IMEC and Geopolitical Implications
The United States has provided extensive support for IMEC from the beginning. This support is part of America’s strategy to maintain its influence in the Middle East and counter the expansion of China and Iran’s influence. The United States, by strengthening economic and security cooperation among Israel, India, and PersianGulf Arab countries, seeks to form a powerful regional bloc that can control global trade routes. In their view, this action can in turn isolate the Axis of Resistance more and reduce Iran’s regional power. America sees IMEC as a strategy to counter China’s “Belt and Road Initiative” and Iran’s influence in the region. From Washington’s perspective, by supporting this plan, they strengthen Israel’s position and also preserve their regional influence. U.S. support for IMEC is part of their ongoing imperialistic efforts to maintain Israel’s position while ignoring Palestinian rights.
International Negative Reactions to Netanyahu’s Action
The map presented by Netanyahu at the UN General Assembly in 2023, showing the occupied West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem as part of Israel, sparked widespread anger among Palestinians and the international community. Critics saw this as a sign of Israel’s intent to annex Palestinian territories and advance grand strategies like “Greater Israel” and complete separation.
This map and the IMEC plan are part of Zionist efforts to consolidate occupation and sideline Palestinians. As previously mentioned, Leith Arafeh, Palestine’s ambassador to Germany, described this map as “an insult to the fundamental principles of the UN” and stated that this action denies Palestine and the rights of its people, while Netanyahu speaks of peace to consolidate Israel’s long-term occupation.
These statements were reflected in international media, where critics, including Yousef Munayyer, stated that Netanyahu’s introduced map pursues the goal of normalizing relations with Arab countries to “eliminate Palestine from the region and legitimize the Greater Israel plan.” Amnesty International also condemned this action, calling it a sign of Israel’s apartheid policies that violate Palestinian rights. These reactions indicate widespread concern over Israel’s efforts to legitimize occupation through economic tools like IMEC.
In total, international pressure on Israel increased after Netanyahu’s map presentation and the continuation of military policies in Gaza and the West Bank. In May 2025, Senam Vakil, a Chatham House analyst, stated that global condemnations alone are not sufficient to change Netanyahu’s government’s course, and concrete actions like sanctions and recognition of a Palestinian state are needed. These reactions demonstrate Israel’s growing isolation on the global stage, while plans like IMEC are seen as tools to legitimize the regime’s occupation.
Linking Netanyahu’s Actions to the Complete Separation Strategy
Netanyahu’s map and the IMEC plan are clearly linked to the “Clean Break” strategy, drafted in 1996 by a group of American and Israeli neoconservatives, including Richard Perle and David Wurmser, for Netanyahu’s government. According to this document, Israel should distance itself from peace negotiations with Palestinians, weaken Axis of Resistance countries (Iran, Syria, and regional resistance groups like Hezbollah), and strengthen relations with Arab countries like Jordan and Saudi Arabia. IMEC, by focusing on normalizing relations with Gulf countries and bypassing Iran, is a continuation of this strategy, with the apparent goal of creating an economic and political bloc led by Israel.
“Greater Israel” and Ethnic Cleansing
Netanyahu’s UN map directly refers to the concept of “Greater Israel” (Eretz Yisrael), a key part of extreme Zionist nationalism claiming control over all historical Palestinian territories, as well as parts of Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. This concept is reflected in statements by members of Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition, like Smotrich, who in 2023 stated “Palestinians do not exist.” The map presented in 2023 and the subsequent map in January 2025, which also included neighboring countries’ territories, fully reinforces this idea. These maps and the IMEC plan are part of a long-term project for annexing Palestinian territories and expanding Israel’s influence, aligned with historical ethnic cleansing policies like those in 1948.
Goal | Description | Impacts |
Becoming the Regional Economic Hub | One of IMEC’s important goals is turning Israel into a transit and economic center through Haifa port and creating dependencies for regional countries. | Increasing regime’s trade and economic influence |
Normalizing Relations | Strengthening diplomatic ties with some Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, etc., is necessary for Israel’s all-out confrontation with its other rivals like Iran. | Consolidating regional alliances, isolating Iran |
Marginalizing Iran | Bypassing Iran’s regional trade routes through advancing IMEC is one of this plan’s important goals. This aligns with other U.S. actions and interventions in the region to reduce Iran’s influence. | Reducing Iran’s economic influence |
Table: Israel’s Goals in Advancing IMEC
Iran-Israel war, Qafnos rises!
Resources
Abu-Lughod, I. (2010). The Palestinian People: A History. Harvard University Press
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https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde15/5141/2022/en
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