Estimates are that the land made available could be worth NIS 20 billion to the state coffers.
Head of the IDF Negev Transfer Administration Brigadier-General (res.) Hezi Mashita estimates that moving Israel's training bases from the center of the country to the "training city" in the Negev will make more than 4,000 dunam (1,000 acres) available for construction. The land is in very high-demand areas including Glilot (between Tel Aviv and Herzliya), Tel Hashomer, Tzrifin (near Rishon Lezion) and elsewhere in Greater Tel Aviv.
Mashita told "Globes," "Vacating this land will serve as a source of funding and budget for implementing the IDF's entire transfer program to the south. When the vacation of the bases is completed we can remove many of the construction restrictions that exist today such as restrictions on high-rise buildings. This will enable the construction of many more high-rise buildings on land where only low housing can current be built and add many housing units to the supply."
Estimates are that the land made available could be worth NIS 20 billion to the state coffers. The Ministry of Defense believes that the huge Tzrifin base will have been evacuated by 2017.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 6, 2012
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