Israel to build fibre-optic link between Europe and Asia

Israel is to build a 254-kilometre (158 mile) fibre-optic cable between the Mediterranean and Red Seas, creating a continuous link between Europe and countries in the Gulf and Asia, the finance ministry said on Sunday.

According to Reuters, the state-owned energy group EAPC will build the cable along the route of an oil pipeline it operates across Israel from the Mediterranean port of Ashkelon to Eilat on the northern Red Sea. The project, said EAPC Chief Executive Itzik Levy, “will position Israel as a communication land bridge connecting the Gulf countries and Asia to Europe.”

The cable will hook up to undersea cables in Israeli territorial waters. It will be available to any telecom company licensed in Israel under a 25-year lease, explained the ministry.

EAPC — the Europe Asia Pipeline Company — offers its pipeline as an alternative to the Suez Canal. Environmental groups have long called it a hazard and questioned the company’s safety record. Most notably, in 2014 a pipeline breach flooded a desert nature reserve with five million litres of oil.

The ministry said that the fibre-optic cable along the pipeline route will help monitor any changes in terrain and detect possible leaks.

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