Following yesterday’s security cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has halted legislation that would pave the way for the construction of an international airport at Nevatim in the Negev, south-east of Beersheva, and the bill will not be raised for second and third readings. Knesset members Almog Cohen (Otzma Yehudit), Ran Ben-Barak (Yesh Atid), and Naama Lazimi (Democrats), sponsored a bill that would oblige the government to construct an airport at Nevatim within seven years, despite the objections of the Ministry of Defense and the IDF. The joint bill passed first reading and, in a stormy session last week, the Knesset Economic Affairs Committee approved it for second and third readings. Cohen even declared that it would come before the Knesset by the end of the current session.
The bill was intended to tie the hands of the government, which had decided to advance the planning of two airports at the same time to supplement Ben Gurion Airport, one at Ramat David in the Jezreel Valley in northern Israel, and the other at Nevatim. Both places are currently home to Israel Air Force bases. The bill favored Nevatim despite opposition from government officials.
From a transportation point of view, Nevatim holds no advantage, because its flight paths will subtract from those at Ben Gurion, so that the investment in infrastructure will not answer the aviation needs. From a security point of view, the IDF objects to its construction, and demanded a discussion in the security cabinet.
Cross-party agreement
The reason for the multi-party rally around the Nevatim plan was the objections of local authorities in the Jezreel Valley, which are mainly connected to center-left parties, to the construction of an airport at Ramat David, while heads of local authorities in the south, led by Dimona mayor Benny Bitton, lobbied for construction of the airport at Nevatim. These authorities tend to be connected to parties of the right, especially Likud.
The Ministry of Finance also opposes the Nevatim plan, as does the Ministry of Justice, which argues that the bill obliges the official planning institutions to approve plans, and thereby interferes with their professional judgement, and with the public’s right to express objections to the plan and the way objections are handled, since it requires the National Planning and Building Committee to complete the planning process within a year, which means that objections will carry no weight, whereas they are meant to be heard in a quasi-judicial procedure.
On Saturday night, Cohen posted on X: "It is regrettable that representatives of the army are acting against the will of the sovereign and the legislature, when even after they requested a closed discussion in the Economic Affairs Committee, they didn’t bother to turn up to it." Cohen cited opinions in favor of the Nevatim site from retired senior IDF officers, including General (res.) Eliezer Shkedy, former Israel Air Force commander and former CEO of El Al, and added, "There is broad support of more than 80 members of Knesset from all parties in the house." Cohen called on Netanyahu to stand up to the opposition to building the airport at Nevatim.
Following the security cabinet discussion, however, it was decided that the bill would not in fact be presented for second and third readings until the objections of the Ministry of Defense and the IDF were examined.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on March 31, 2025.
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