In October 2017, at the annual “JOURNEY” business conference in Tel Aviv, Ariel Margalit, former Labor MK and founder of the JVP Venture Capital Fund, spoke about the economic opportunities of the Israeli occupation in the smart city of Neom that the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is establishing.
Margalit had previously visited a number of Gulf countries to discuss the possibility of economic cooperation between the Gulf and the Zionist occupation state. She said that Prince Mohammed bin Salman to call for cooperation at the regional level through innovation, which would change in the region.
In her speech, Margalit also presented the proposed joint infrastructure projects between the Israeli occupation with Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. She announced the construction of an airport with four terminals, allowing passengers to disembark and travel to any of the four countries that work together in the city of NEOM.
The words used by the Israeli Knesset member reflected the value of the city of NEOM for Israel, and that it is more than just economic investment deals, trade relations, and economic normalization, but it is actually a strategic interest, as it would be the first “Israeli colony” in the heart of the Arab world, and in the most sacred place for Muslims.
On August 17, 2020, TRT WORLD published a report on the Israeli-Saudi cooperation which is taking place under the umbrella of the city of NEOM, stated that the Saudi embassy in Washington published a tweet that “the Saudi Cabinet approved the recruitment of the Israeli cybersecurity company “Check Point Software” in Neom. However, the embassy deleted the tweet shortly after it received angry reactions from the followers.
According to economic reports, the volume of Israeli (smart) technological investments that Tel Aviv is preparing to inject into the technological infrastructure of the Neom City project will enable it to control the project and achieve political and economic benefits from it, since all the technical information collected means it will be used directly by “Israel’. This would give Israel a great intelligence and security influence in the heart of the Arab region, to bring about the future social normalization that the occupying state seeks to win.
Also, the geographical proximity of “NEOM” to the city of Eilat, will be exploited by Israel for its own benefit, which is planning to link Eilat on the Mediterranean, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Ashdod, and Arab cities to transport passengers and goods, and create a strong alternative and competitor to the Suez Canal, which will happen through Neom.
NEOM will also be a tourist arena, especially in the summer for the citizens of the occupation under Saudi sponsorship, as it will be an alternative future to the Egyptian beaches near occupied Palestine.
The question is: would all these benefits be enjoyed by the Saudi people just as Israeli people would benefit from it?
