NYN | News
The management of the Israeli Eilat Port is seeking emergency financial support from the Israeli government after its closure throughout the year due to operations carried out by the Sana’a Government Forces in “support of Gaza.”
Media reports indicate that the port’s CEO, Gideon Golber, spoke during a meeting of the parliamentary Economic Affairs Committee in Israel, stating: “The port has been shut down for eight months due to the attacks, meaning it has no revenue,” adding that he “wants financial assistance, not loans, to get through the current period.”
Reports also mentioned that the management of Ashdod Port “expressed readiness to temporarily accommodate some workers from Eilat if their housing issue in the city is resolved.”
Previously, the director of Eilat Port complained about the complete paralysis caused by the embargo imposed by the Sana’a Government Forces on Israeli or Israel-linked ships since November last year.
The Hebrew newspaper Globes reported in early June that the port director said: “The port is completely closed, and there has been no activity for seven months,” adding that: “This is not the port’s fault, but the fault of the coalition’s weakness in dealing with the Houthis.”
He continued: “There are no solutions, so I am not ashamed to ask customers to pay $100,000 to the Houthis for each ship to pass, and I will share in the funding,” mentioning that he no longer “sleeps at night,” and that: “If you have to pay the Egyptians to pass through the Suez Canal, or the Houthis to pass through Bab al-Mandab,” noting that they are considering “laying off workers, as in the collective agreement there is no option for severance pay, but there is an option for dismissal, and we may have no other choice.”
