The government on Sunday approved the construction of two new airports, one in the south at Tze’elim and another in the north at Ramat David, following a heated and at times angry debate that lasted two and a half hours.
All ministers voted in favor of the decision except Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli, who opposed it. The main dispute centered on which airport would be built first. The cabinet ultimately decided to advance both projects simultaneously while narrowing existing planning gaps.
Officials said moving forward with both airports in parallel is essential for comprehensive national preparedness, reducing the risk of an aviation crisis and ensuring balanced economic development in the northern and southern periphery.
Before the meeting began, Deputy Minister Almog Cohen expressed anger to the cabinet secretary over what he described as the Finance Ministry’s handling of the issue. During the session, Transportation Minister Miri Regev and Minister for Social Equality May Golan clashed with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who supported building both airports at the same time.
“Smotrich, you will not bring us down,” Regev told the finance minister. “Not you, and not the Finance Ministry officials. Bezalel does not run the government.”
Regev said Cohen had joined the coalition on the condition that the new airport would first be built in the Negev desert rather than at Ramat David, and warned he would leave the government otherwise. Golan echoed that position. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded: “Almog will know that we do not slam doors. I want this no less than he does.”
Some ministers voiced concern that if construction began in Ramat David first, the Negev airport might never be completed. The final decision called for advancing both projects simultaneously.
Chikli’s opposition focused primarily on the proposed airport at Ramat David, located in the Jezreel Valley, a largely rural area that includes 13 communities. He expressed support for building the airport at Tze’elim.
Residents of the Megiddo Regional Council demonstrated Sunday morning at the Nahalal junction against the Ramat David plan. Gil Lin, head of the Megiddo Regional Council, called for establishing the next international airport in the Negev rather than in the north.
“The next international airport of the State of Israel — ‘Tekuma Airport’ — must be built in the Negev,” Lin said. “This is a true Zionist need now more than ever.”
During the discussion, Netanyahu addressed security concerns surrounding the southern site.
“Tze’elim is within short range of Gaza. We are doing this because we have changed the security reality,” he said. “We will not allow Hamas to reestablish itself in the Strip, and that is a very significant statement. The same applies in Ramat David with Hezbollah. There will no longer be a threat.”
At the start of the meeting, Netanyahu said the southern airport would serve as a complement to Ben-Gurion Airport, the country’s main international gateway near Tel Aviv, and would be “a tremendous engine for developing the Negev,” citing employment, accessibility and tourism, along with supporting infrastructure such as roads and rail and related businesses.
Regev criticized the existing Ramon Airport near Eilat, saying it suffers from inadequate infrastructure.
“It is unacceptable that an international airport was planned and built without a railway and proper access roads,” she said. “The lack of a train turned it into a white elephant.”
She added that if a casino were ever established in Eilat, it would create complementary demand for transportation infrastructure. Energy Minister Israel Katz, a former transportation minister, defended Ramon Airport, saying it was a significant project.
Netanyahu said Ramon Airport is not a waste and serves as an alternative airport within the country in the event of missile attacks, adding that more runways and airports are needed, including for potential use by the Air Force.
After the decision was approved, Netanyahu said the Tze’elim airport would be a major boost for development in the Negev and that advancing a second airport at Ramat David would help meet growing demand from millions of tourists arriving each year, as well as citizens traveling abroad.
Regev called the decision to advance a southern airport “historic,” saying it would strengthen the periphery, create new growth engines and provide thousands of jobs for residents of the south as part of a broader policy to improve accessibility, lower the cost of living and bolster national resilience.
However, protest groups representing residents of the Jezreel Valley and the Negev said the government had been misled and warned the decision would devastate the valley’s open spaces.
“The attempt to sell the public on an airport in Tze’elim is a false presentation,” the group said in a statement. “Its implementation will take more than a decade, if at all, while the only plan currently available is in the Jezreel Valley. Instead of economic development in the south, we will receive a concrete wasteland at the expense of the valley’s agricultural land. The struggle is just beginning.”