Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday a long-term solution to the escalating Strait of Hormuz crisis would require rerouting oil and gas pipelines westward across Saudi Arabia to the Red Sea and Mediterranean, bypassing what he described as Iran’s “geographic choke point,” as Tehran moves to impose tolls on ships transiting the vital waterway and restrict passage through the corridor.
Speaking in an interview with Newsmax, Netanyahu outlined a dual-track approach in which immediate U.S.-led efforts focus on reopening the Strait, while longer-term planning aims to eliminate reliance on narrow maritime chokepoints that allow Iran to disrupt global energy flows.
“Long-term solutions include rerouting energy pipelines westward, across Saudi Arabia to the Red Sea and Mediterranean, bypassing Iran’s geographic choke point,” Netanyahu explained to the outlet.
Netanyahu raised the proposal in response to mounting pressure on global shipping lanes, arguing that geography itself — not just military threats — must be addressed.
“There are ways to bypass the Strait of Hormuz,” Netanyahu said, pointing to plans to “divert all the energy pipelines… from the Gulf where the Iranians have a geographic choke point, westward… to the Red Sea and up to the Mediterranean ports.”
His remarks come as Iran’s Parliamentary Security Commission approved a plan to impose rial-denominated tolls on vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz — effectively forcing international shipping to pay for passage — while moving to bar U.S., Israeli, and sanctioning countries’ ships from the waterway, according to Iranian state media.
The proposal, framed by Iranian officials as an assertion of control over the strategic passage, includes enforcement mechanisms, coordination with Oman, and new regulatory measures governing maritime traffic, marking a significant escalation in Tehran’s effort to assert dominance over one of the world’s most critical energy corridors.
The Strait of Hormuz, which typically handles roughly one-fifth of global oil supply, has seen traffic collapse by as much as 95 percent since the conflict began, according to maritime intelligence estimates, with shipping severely curtailed amid security threats and mounting restrictions tied to Iran’s actions.
The escalation comes as President Donald Trump warned Monday that the United States is prepared to take decisive action if the waterway is not reopened, declaring in a Truth Social post that while “great progress” had been made in talks with what he described as a “NEW, AND MORE REASONABLE, REGIME,” failure to reach a deal — and to ensure the Strait is “Open for Business” — would result in the U.S. “blowing up and completely obliterating” Iran’s electric grid, oil infrastructure, and key export hub at Kharg Island, which handles roughly 90 percent of Iran’s oil exports.
Trump’s warning underscored the administration’s insistence on restoring freedom of navigation, even as officials weigh broader military and diplomatic options to address the crisis.
Yet even as Washington escalates pressure, a Wall Street Journal report published Monday night said Trump has signaled a willingness to wind down the military campaign without first forcing the Strait fully open, citing concerns that such an operation could extend the timeline of the conflict and require a significantly expanded military commitment.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia — which activated its long-standing contingency route early in the conflict — has since ramped up flows through its East-West pipeline to full capacity of roughly 7 million barrels per day, redirecting crude to the Red Sea port of Yanbu.
Shipments from Yanbu have surged to around 5 million barrels per day of crude, along with additional refined products, offering a critical — though incomplete — offset to the disruption of roughly 15 million barrels per day that typically move through the Strait.
At the same time, that workaround faces growing risk as Iran expands pressure beyond the Gulf, with European officials warning that Tehran is urging its Houthi allies in Yemen to prepare for renewed attacks on Red Sea shipping — a move that could threaten traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb and choke off alternative export routes.
The Houthis have already entered the conflict, launching ballistic missile attacks over the weekend at Israel, and officials warn that any escalation targeting commercial shipping could significantly disrupt the alternative routes now helping stabilize global energy markets.
Several Gulf states are now privately urging the United States to intensify military pressure on Iran, arguing that Tehran has not yet been weakened enough and warning that ending the campaign prematurely could leave the region exposed to long-term threats, according to officials cited by the Associated Press.
Officials from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Bahrain have conveyed in private discussions that they want the operation to continue until Iran’s nuclear program, missile capabilities, and ability to threaten the Strait of Hormuz are decisively neutralized — reinforcing Netanyahu’s argument that the crisis reflects a broader strategic vulnerability tied to the waterway.
Against that backdrop, Netanyahu reiterated that while military solutions may address the immediate crisis in the Strait, the longer-term objective must be to remove the strategic leverage created by such geographic bottlenecks.
“I think there are military solutions to that that the United States is leading,” Netanyahu said.
“But… there are interesting ideas to divert all the energy pipelines… and therefore you just get around the geographic choke point,” Netanyahu added, pointing to what he described as a broader strategic shift away from reliance on vulnerable sea lanes.
Netanyahu has previously advanced similar proposals, arguing earlier this month that overland energy corridors linking Gulf producers to Mediterranean ports could permanently bypass both the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb, eliminating Iran’s ability to threaten global supply through maritime chokepoints.
The concept aligns with broader regional discussions — including proposals involving existing infrastructure such as Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline and Israel’s Eilat–Ashkelon corridor — that could create a continuous land-based energy route from the Gulf to Europe.
Joshua Klein is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.
Read the full article here