JERUSALEM – The Israeli media devoted a wide area of press coverage to US President Joe Biden's announcement of a plan to establish a rail and freight corridor linking India with the Middle East and Europe, passing through Saudi Arabia and Israel.

Saudi Arabia and the United States signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a protocol that contributes to the establishment of green transcontinental transit corridors, by taking advantage of Saudi Arabia's location, which connects the continents of Asia and Europe.

Expansion of electricity networks, energy projects and infrastructure in Israel (Al Jazeera)

Completion of the normalization project

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu considered the project an achievement for his successive governments, while the Israeli media downplayed the atmosphere of celebrations broadcast by Netanyahu with his statements, despite the importance of the project from the point of view of analysts.

Israeli analyses estimated that the project was mainly aimed at creating an economic and strategic defense system against China's growing influence in the Middle East.

The vision of the project is impressive in its overall scope because it seeks to fully integrate Israel into the Middle East and penetrate throughout Asia.

Modernization of the highways linking the south to the north in historic Palestine (Al-Jazeera)

Minefields

Haaretz Arab affairs analyst Tzipi Barel said: "We should take a long breath and examine the minefields that await this vision."

"It is clear that this project does not augur well for normalization with Saudi Arabia, as it did not mention anything that will be presented on the sidelines of the upcoming G20 summit regarding progress and breakthrough in this matter," Barel added.

Arab affairs analysts argue that the issue of strategic normalization for Israel will become secondary to Washington's main goal, which is the conflict with China in the Middle East in particular.

They believe that Israel is looking for the benefit of the project by re-establishing an anti-Iran coalition, especially since all the great powers in the region do not intend to be part of the Israeli strategic game.

The Israeli Ministry of Transportation connected Tel Aviv to the railway lines leading to the border with the countries of the region (Al-Jazeera)

Conflict of interests and influence

Maariv newspaper explained that Israel and the pro-Western axis led by America are pushing to develop this project with the aim of fighting the Iranian axis and Chinese influence.

The newspaper noted that Iran plans to establish a parallel path, and an infrastructure network that passes through Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, all the way to the Mediterranean, explaining that the promotion of the plan again comes as an attempt by Biden to counter the pressure exerted by China on global infrastructure, by presenting Washington as an alternative partner and investor to developing countries.

Biden's efforts come at a delicate juncture in relations between Tel Aviv and Washington, as the US president tries to make achievements ahead of the end of his term by offering Netanyahu "temptations" to dissuade him from the plan for "amendments in the Israeli judiciary" that recently sparked widespread rejection.

Walla political affairs correspondent Park Ravid predicts that the project will enable Israel to integrate into the Middle East and achieve rare cooperation with Saudi Arabia.

Sarit Afitan Cohen, a political affairs analyst at Israel Today, believes that this project mainly serves Israel, which is the owner of the idea of the project that was launched by modernizing the Hejaz railway in Israel and the West Bank, and expanding the network of trains and highways and connecting them to the border areas with Jordan, Sinai and Lebanon.

Expansion and modernization of Highway No. 6 linking the Negev desert with the northern border with Lebanon (Al Jazeera)

Deadlines

Dean Shmuel Elbas, political and economic editor at the Globes, asked: What are the chances of Biden's giant project succeeding and putting it into action? He pointed out that there are many questions on the agenda after the full plan is published within 60 days.

"It's too early to tell if the project will come into effect soon, as Israel has proven that it is a country that has difficulty meeting deadlines when it comes to infrastructure projects, and the plan Biden has currently presented is only in the general outline," he said.