Rising tensions between Israel and Turkey are now playing out not only diplomatically but also in competing plans for regional transport and energy routes. The article says Turkish Interior Minister Mustafa Chipchi escalated the rhetoric at a ruling-party conference by calling on Turkey to take control of Jerusalem and saying he hoped to serve as the city’s governor. Israel’s Foreign Ministry responded that the Ottoman Empire is gone and that Jerusalem will remain Israel’s capital forever.
The broader strategic dispute, according to exiled Turkish opposition figure Abdullah Bozkurt, includes signs that Ankara is preparing for possible direct military conflict with Israel, most likely on Syrian soil. He pointed to regulatory changes and emergency powers that would allow Turkey to mobilize civilian resources and private companies, which he said show that Ankara increasingly sees Israel as its main threat.
At the center of the competition is the struggle over a land corridor that could replace vulnerable sea routes, amid the disruption of the Strait of Hormuz and Houthi attacks near Bab el-Mandeb. The article says the target is control of the future path for three critical goods, physical merchandise, data through fiber-optic cables, and oil. One plan, the U.S.-backed IMEC corridor, would start in India, pass through Gulf states, then continue overland via Jordan and Israel, with Haifa as a key port, before reaching Europe through Greece or Italy.
Turkey, by contrast, is working with allies from the Muslim Brotherhood orbit on an alternative route that would bypass Israel entirely. The article says this involves transit deals and infrastructure links with Qatar, Jordan, Syria, Turkey and Europe, and is being advanced alongside memorandum signings with Saudi Arabia. It also says Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the Syrian regime of Ahmad al-Sharaa are coordinating on the “Four Seas” project, with Damascus and Ankara intended to become the region’s main logistics and energy hubs.
The article adds that this rivalry extends to Africa, where Turkey is deepening its economic and military presence in Somalia, while Israel is cultivating ties with Somaliland, including a historic visit by Somaliland’s president to Jerusalem. It concludes that Donald Trump’s vision for IMEC is meant to connect India, Israel, Italy and ultimately the United States, both to contain China and Turkey and to cement his legacy.
