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In an article published by Haaretz, the Israeli writer, Emir Orn, drew a bleak picture of the port of Eilat, which was previously a symbol of Israeli expansion towards the east, to become today a silent witness to one of the largest failures of the Benjamin Netanyahu government, and a prominent address to the limited power that Tel Aviv has long boiled.
The writer reviewed the historical importance that the founders of Israel attached to the sea and ports, and how to secure the maritime supplies on top of the emerging navy priorities, which was assigned to repel any possible threat from Arab fleets.
Control of marine and ports was not merely an economic necessity, but rather an integral part of the Israeli security doctrine, and a source of internal political conflicts over influence and control of this grand prize.
Old conflict
The writer pointed out that Eilat, despite the smallness compared to the ports of the Mediterranean Sea, was the gateway to Israel to Asia and Africa across the Red Sea.
However, this port was not always safe. Israeli navigation suffered from challenges from Arab countries, especially Egypt, so that the channel was not completely opened to Israeli ships until after the peace agreement with Egypt.
The writer evoked the October 1973 war as a milestone, as this war revealed the limited Israeli control in the Red Sea when Egypt managed to close navigation in Bab al -Mandab, to find Israel itself unable to confront this distant challenge.
The corridor was only open with direct American political intervention, in an early reference to the Israeli dependence on the American ally.
Today, after half a century, history restores itself with various tools and parties, as the Houthi missiles and their drones coming from Yemen not only targeted the Israeli depth, but also succeeded in imposing an actual sea blockade on the port of Eilat.
The writer described this situation by saying: “There is, the view of the empty port is the dark, dark, and costly queue that awaits along the Gulf of Haifa,” it is a picture that expresses the inability of the traditional military force in front of the unconventional war tactics.
American support
The writer commented on Trump’s contract with an agreement with the Houthis by saying that the American administration appears to be sending a clear message to Israel that: “If you do not want to do what is good for you, then this is your matter, you will pay the bill, are you able to open the door of the mandate? Please, the fifth fleet will not do it for you.”
This message – Emir of Orn – continues – if it is correct, means that Israel can no longer rely absolutely on the direct American military support to impose its will in the region, and that it must restore its strategic calculations.
The writer believes that any future regional settlement will not be imposed by the great power as it was in the past, but rather a cooked settlement in the White House, to be presented to Israel without a real ability to change its essence.
In his article, Prince of Orn emphasizes that in the empty port of Eilat, Israel will once again learn the limited power, and no less than that the limited mind of those who adhere to its authority, and who suffer from a severe shortage of integrity and efficiency together.
