Initiation of Tzrifin relocation to Negev paves path for construction of housing units

100,000 new housing units to replace 10,000 square meters of military structures, estimates say.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN
Tzriffin military structures to be cleared in stages. (photo credit: DEFENSE MINISTRY)
Tzriffin military structures to be cleared in stages.
(photo credit: DEFENSE MINISTRY)
The Defense Ministry has initiated the first phase of its relocation of the Tzrifin military camp near Rishon Lezion on Monday, after choosing a contractor who will evacuate 42.7 hectares (105.5 acres) of the site.
The move is part of the IDF’s plan to move its training bases to a center under construction in the Negev Desert.
The ministry said 60,000 sq.m. of military structures will be cleared from Tzrifin in stages by the end of 2015. In the first stage, 10,000 sq.m.
of military structures will be demolished.
The Israel Lands Authority, will, when the process is complete, begin selling the newly cleared land to contractors for the construction of residential buildings.
Commenting on the development, Erez Cohen, head of the Ministry’s Engineering and Construction Branch, said, “The evacuation of Tzrifin Camp is one of the largest and most complex undertaken by the defense establishment in recent years. It included the demolition of hundreds of structures, while safeguarding historical buildings.”
Tzrifin was established during the British Mandate in the Yishuv era. It contains military offices, soldiers’ barracks, kitchens, garages, factories, a network of roads, gates and fences.
Several buildings with historical value will be left untouched, according to the ministry.
The IDF is planning a “City of Training Bases” in the Negev, as well as two large military campuses for the C4i Corps (which is responsible for all areas of teleprocessing and communications) and the Intelligence Corps.
When the relocation programs for military sites in central Israel are complete, the Defense Ministry estimates that some 100,000 housing units and 2.5 million sq.m.
of commercial or industrial buildings will be built on newly available land.