Since the start of the war there is a conspiracy theory going viral on the internet with regard to Israel’s intentions for the war. The conspiracy says that Israel started a war with Hamas in order to control Gaza which would allow it to build the “Ben Gurion Canal”, a waterway from Eilat in the South to Gaza connecting the Red Sea and the Mediterranean and creating an alternative for the Suez Canal.

This theory is not only false, but also inconsistent within itself. Why would Israel need to start a war to build the canal when it can go around Gaza?

References to this conspiracy theory started with Indian bloggers and then exploded within social media influencers in the Arab world. This theory is in line with the narrative that the West supports Israel in this war for the financial and geopolitical benefit they would get from building this canal. This goes in line with other antisemitic conspiracy theories alleging that Jews control the world’s resources and this way control the world and other anti-Western sentiments that allege that the West only seeks to dominate the peoples of the middle east.

Where did this idea come from?

There is some history behind the idea that Israel would build a canal from Eilat to the Mediterranean Sea. It goes back to an idea that was floated in the US in the early 60’s but was quickly rejected for its lack of practicality. The document was declassified 30 years later in the early 90’s. It started as an idea by the author, Howard David MacCabee, as a possible canal that could be excavated using nuclear explosives. In the disclaimer to the document, it says that it only represents the idea and views of the author and does not represent the views of any US governmental agency. It is worth noting that even in the attached map the canal does not go through Gaza but north of it.

This project is very unpractical and would be the most expensive and largest construction project in the world. It would involve digging up a 250 Km canal through the Negev desert, through desert cervices up to 450 meters deep into the desert floor.