Haifa port expansion on course

Sandeep Dikshit

New Delhi, April 2

In an indication that it will not walk back on its plan to operate the Haifa port in Israel despite its troubles due to the Hindenburg report, former Israeli Ambassador to India Ron Malka took over as the Executive Chairman of the Haifa Port Company.

Considered close to Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu, who is close to PM Narendra Modi, Malka himself made the announcement about being nominated by the Adani Group. Netanyahu had plucked Malka out of a teaching career and made him Ambassador to India. At a time when Adani Group stocks were headed South, PM Netanyahu had appeared at the Haifa port with Gautam Adani to celebrate its takeover.

The Haifa port project has strategic value besides being a vital expansion of its operations by the Adani Group. The company has been awarded a contract to build a container terminal at the Colombo port.

Israel’s Ambassador Naor Gilan has described his country’s handing over of the port to the Adani Group as a reflection of the trust Israel has in India. “It was a very important move from our point of view because the Haifa port is our strategic asset. The Adani Group has the potential to make it the port it needs to be and to increase trade between Israel and India,’’ he had said.

Interestingly, the Haifa port figures in a claim made by the American Jewish Congress (AJC), which has been hotly denied by the Pakistan Foreign Office. The AJC said the first-ever shipment carrying Pakistani-originated food products was offloaded at this port in Israel.