The Defense Ministry is willing to offer the military bases at Sde Dov, Mahane
80, and Sirkin for housing development, but the idea has been rejected by the
“Israel Lands Authority, and the relevant authorities,” Defense Ministry
Secretary- General Maj.-Gen. (Res.) Udi Shani told Israel Radio
Wednesday.
Shanni added that the authorities turned down the offer,
citing concerns that the land was polluted and a lack of development plans for
the sites.
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The offer would be part of the wider defense-budget cuts to be
made in order to appease social protesters over the soaring cost of living in
the country, he said.
The government has mulled closing the doors to Sde
Dov Airport for a number of years.
Situated on the north Tel Aviv coast,
the Sde Dov compound covers roughly 1,300 dunams (130 hectares), 800 of which
are designated for military use.
In 2010, The Jerusalem Post reported
that the evacuation of the compound would make room for approximately 12,000
housing units in the popular upscale residential northern Tel Aviv
area.
On Tuesday night, the Defense Ministry sent out a scathing
statement on the Finance Ministry, as the latter reportedly suggested cutting
the defense budget in order to satisfy the social movement that has staged
demonstrations throughout the country for the past month.
“The conduct of
Treasury officials in the past few weeks shows they do not understand [the]
economy, nor society, nor security,” the statement from the Defense Ministry
read.
“Attempts to discredit the security apparatus and its service to
Israel are irresponsible, and we have no doubt that the public is aware of the
baseless populist and demagogic rhetoric being used in this context. The
country’s defense infrastructure will continue to work efficiently and
effectively, taking the appropriate measures to provide security to Israel’s
citizens.”
Home Front Minister Matan Vilnai added to the onslaught
against the Finance Ministry on Wednesday, accusing the Finance Ministry of
causing harm to the Israeli public.
In an interview on Israel Radio,
Vilnai said that whoever now seeks to cut the military budget is causing severe
harm to the middle class.
The home front minister added that while
defense-budget cuts may ultimately be required to ease the rising cost of
living, Israel must not jeopardize funding the military establishment in the
face of all of the country’s external threats.
