Half a year after returning from there, Transport Minister Miri Regev is expected to fly to India again in early September for eight days. The flight is taking place after about two weeks ago, Regev met with the Indian ambassador in Israel, who presented her with an invitation to a business conference on behalf of the Confederation of Indian Industry.
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According to the Ministry of Transport, the purpose of the flight is to bring Indian infrastructure companies to Israel in order to create competition for the European companies operating here, and this is because the Indians specialize in digging tunnels.
However, the request for the departure of the tour was joined by the chairman of the Israel Routes Company, a Likud activist, Yigal Amadi, and the chairman of Israel Railways, Moshe Shimoni, who was appointed by Regev in her previous term in office. Shimoni told Globes that he will stay in Israel and will not take part in the visit.
The request to attach them to the flight is surprising since Israeli routes hardly deal with the tunnel at all, and the railway company deals with it mainly in future projects. While the largest and most relevant project that will deal with the tunnel is the metro project led by the NTA company, whose chairperson Mia Likvarnik was appointed during the previous government – was not invited to the prestigious tour at all.
Factors in the industry: fear of trying to influence the state’s position
Regev is expected to meet with ministers dealing with transportation issues in India, as well as with the Adani company that won the operation of the Haifa port. These days the series is being consolidated in the ports in which Adani’s competitor, the Chinese SIPG company that operates the Gulf port, is expected to get an additional berth – a move that is opposed in India. As revealed in Globes, the Indian embassy even filed a complaint on the issue with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Officials in the government accused the chairman of the port Ron Malka, former Israeli ambassador to India, of cynically exploiting his diplomatic ties and the Ministry of Finance even responded sharply that “the attempt to use political levers for the benefit of business interests and to prevent competition – is inappropriate.”
Sources in the industry see the minister’s invitation to India as another attempt to influence the state’s position in relation to the regulation in the ports which will have a business impact on the ports. The legal advisor of the Ministry of Transportation also attached an opinion in which she wrote that “these days, there is a lawsuit in the aspects concerning the port of Haifa, which is owned by the Indian company Adani, this is as part of handling a comprehensive regulation for the ports, when according to what we have been told, the disputes on the subject have also been transferred to political lines. In this context, there is Ensure in any case that the contents of the visit will be determined in such a way that there will be no difficulties in this regard.”
Strange timing
The timing of Regev’s trip to India is now puzzling, because she visited there only last February for a long tour that also included Sri Lanka, and cost the country about NIS 450,000 – as revealed in the response to the freedom of information request of the Success Association. Regev’s office commented on that tour that she promotes joint projects and meets with leaders. On the same flight, Regev claimed that 100,000 foreign workers could be brought from India within 60 days to replace Palestinian workers, a promise that was not fulfilled.
Regev has been sharply criticized by the public for the fact that, despite her position as a member of the Security Policy Cabinet and Minister, she has been flying abroad a lot since she took office, even though Israel is in a time of war and the cabinet is facing weighty decisions, especially at this time. Therefore, it is not clear how the minister plans to be absent for So long from Israel.
Thus, since taking up her position, Regev has visited Morocco, Georgia, Mexico, India and Sri Lanka, Toulouse in France, Cyprus and Greece and is now again planning to fly to India. In total, the minister’s trips cost the state coffers more than a million shekels.
Another trip by Regev to a conference in Germany last May was canceled due to the broadcast of the “Hamakor” investigation, following which a criminal police investigation was opened against the ministry.
The Ministry of Transportation did not respond.
*** Presumption of innocence: It should be emphasized that as of now, Minister Regev has not been questioned and has not been declared a suspect
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