Along the shared border between Israel and Jordan, Israel has revealed plans to expedite the development of a previously-approved multimillion-dollar industrial complex with Jordan.
The “Jordan Gateway” project was approved during a cabinet meeting of the Israeli government on Sunday.
According to an Israeli statement, the proposal was first offered in 1994 when the two nations normalized relations, but the “final details” were agreed upon last week during a meeting in Amman between Jordan’s King Abdullah II and acting Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid.
Lapid stated on Sunday, “Twenty-eight years after the peace accord with Jordan, we are advancing the excellent neighborly relations between our two countries.” This innovation will significantly contribute to the development and strengthening of the region.
The Jordanian government did not immediately comment on the idea.
It is situated immediately above the northeastern portion of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, near the Israeli city of Beit She’an, once known as Beisan until the deportation of its Palestinian population in 1948, when Israel was founded, in what Palestinians refer to as the Nakba or “catastrophe.”
In recent years, the Israeli government has predicted that the project will cost approximately $59 million.
On the Jordanian side of the park will be Israeli and Jordanian manufacturers, while on the Israeli side will be a logistics wing and a base for transporting commodities out of Israeli ports on the Mediterranean Sea, as Jordan is landlocked.
In Jordan, approximately 70 hectares have been designated for the project, while approximately 24 hectares have been designated on the Israeli side.
