Israel hopes new data cables can make friends of former enemies
They will also break an Egyptian monopoly on internet traffic
UNDER THE clear waters of the Red Sea, a high-speed data cable is being laid that will connect—for the first time—Israel to Saudi Arabia. The new link, which is part of two longer submarine cables running all the way from France to India, promises not only to improve the speed and lower the cost at which information can whizz between Europe and Asia. It is also knitting together a new regional alliance between Israel and countries in the Gulf that once regarded it as an enemy.
This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “Message in a bottleneck”
Middle East & Africa March 5th 2022
From the March 5th 2022 edition
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