Crisis at Ben Gurion Airport: Local leaders demand new international airport in the Negev
Dozens of mayors and council heads from the South and the North have appealed to party leaders with a demand to include in their platforms a commitment to establish an international airport in the South. They are asking to agree first on the regional location, while deferring the decision on the specific site.
Against the backdrop of the approaching elections and the crisis at Ben Gurion Airport, dozens of local authority heads from the South and the North have appealed to party leaders with a demand to include in their election platforms an explicit commitment to establish the next international airport in the Negev. The move is particularly prominent in light of the sharp dispute that has taken place in recent months in the South regarding the question of where the airport will be built — in Tziklag or in Nevatim.
In a letter sent to the party leaders, the local authority heads call to commit already now that Israel's next airport will be built in the Negev.
"We, the heads of the authorities in the South and the North, call on you to commit in your party's platform to the establishment of the next international airport in the Negev," they wrote.
According to them, this is a "strategic and historical move of national importance," which will strengthen aviation security, create jobs, promote the Negev, and allow for a more balanced distribution of national infrastructure.
Signed on the letter are a long line of local authority heads, including the Mayor of Be'er Sheva, Ruvik Danilovich, the Mayor of Dimona, Benny Biton, the Mayor of Sderot, Alon Davidi, the Mayor of Ofakim, Itzik Danino, the Mayor of Arad, Yair Maayan, as well as heads of councils from the Negev, the Gaza Envelope, and the North.
The local authority heads even offer the party leaders an explicit wording to be included in the platform: "The party will work to establish the next international airport in the Negev, as part of strengthening national security and developing the South."
The joint demand does not solve the major dispute that remains open: where exactly in the Negev the airport will be built. In recent months, a struggle has been raging between the alternative in Tziklag and the alternative in Nevatim. Supporters of Tziklag present the location as a significant growth engine for the Western Negev and as a project that could create thousands of jobs and strengthen the region. On the other hand, opponents of the alternative warn of damage to communities, agriculture, and the quality of life in the area.
Opposing them is the "Taking off from Nevatim" headquarters, which promotes the establishment of the airport near the Nevatim base and claims that significant aviation infrastructure already exists in the area and that it is possible to develop a joint civilian-military airport there. On the other hand, over the years, security and operational objections have also been raised to the use of Nevatim for civilian needs.
Thus, precisely at a time when the struggle between Tziklag and Nevatim is still far from being decided, the local authority heads are now trying to create a joint front against the political system: first of all to receive a commitment that the next airport will remain in the South — and to continue the battle over the exact location later.
