Israeli Foreign Minister Presents Idea For Artificial Island Off Gaza In EU Meeting

Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz on Monday presented his idea for the creation of an internationally financed and owned artificial island three miles off the coast of Gaza that in his view would “promote deep positive changes in the Gaza Strip and a better future in the Middle East” during a meeting in Brussels.

The video, titled “The Gaza Artificial Island Initiative,” which was presented to the European Union’s first Foreign Affairs Council meeting of the year, says that the current state of affairs isn’t satisfactory to either Israel or the Palestinians.

The Irish Times explains Katz floated the artificial island idea again back in 2017, with an unnamed official present in Monday’s meeting telling the news outlet they found his presentation “very bizarre.”

“Construction of an artificial island with a port and civilian infrastructure installations off the coast of Gaza will provide the Palestinians a humanitarian, economic and transportation gateway to the world, without endangering Israel’s security,” the narrator of the video states.

According to Katz’s vision, Israel would control security around the island and inspect the port, while an international policing force would maintain public order on the island itself. But it was unclear if the proposal involved the relocation of Palestinians to the new island.

Josep Borrell, the EU’s high representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, told reporters Katz showed two videos during their meeting, both of which “had little or nothing to do with the issue we were discussing,” according to a translation of his remarks. The second video involved the creation of a railway line linking the Middle East to India.

While Borrell said he found both videos “very