Construction of IDF training base in Negev halted
Bulldozers arrive Wednesday morning to begin work on initial infrastructure of one of biggest military projects in recent years; environmental groups opposed to location, court issues restraining order against construction works
Twenty-four hours before it was officially slated to get off the ground, construction began Wednesday morning on the Israel Defense Forces training base city in southern Israel.
Shortly aftterwards, The Beersheba District Court issued a restraining order against the construction
works. The injunction was issued at the request of the Israel Union for Environmental Defense, which objects to the location of the new base. The court will hold a hearing on the issue on November 19.The Defense Ministry decided Wednesday morning to order bulldozers to begin leveling territory next to the Negev Junction, on which a large military base set to house thousands of soldiers will be constructed by 2012.
The decision to push the work forward a day stemmed from an apparent desire to prevent clashes with the representatives of environmental organizations that were expected on Thursday, when construction was originally set to begin.
There was apprehension in the security establishment that the environmental organizations would carry out improvised protests in the construction area, or even an attempt to stop the bulldozers.
In response, the security establishment released this week a survey pointing to wide ranging public support for the establishment of the facility in its present location.
A model of the planned complex
In the days before Wednesday, the Defense Ministry finalized construction plans. "We are working exactly according to plan," a source involved in the project said.
"The environment is an inseparable part of the planning for the training complex, and throughout the entire construction process we plan on continuing surveying and testing to be certain, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that by the time the base opens, everything in our power will have been done to ensure the safety of the soldiers coming through gates."
Greens: site a 'ticking bomb'
The bulldozers making their way onto the construction site represent a failure for the opponents of this ambitious plan. Until the very last days, environment organizations have spent their time fighting the intention to establish the training complex next to the Ramat Hovav industrial area, which they consider a substantial "environmental time bomb."
The controversy revolves around one central question: Has everything been done to guarantee the area's environmental stability, given its proximity to Ramat Hovav?
Last Thursday the environmental organizations submitted a petition to the Beersheba District Court, in an attempt to prevent the Security Facilities Committee from putting its final seal of approval on the project.
The court rejected the petitioners' request for an urgent hearing, setting one instead for next month.
"There are good reasons to halt the construction on the site before the findings are published, especially as they will be made public in only a few days time," said Knesset Member Ophir Pines-Paz (Labor), head of the Internal Affairs and Environment Committee in the Knesset. "I do not recommend racing to put facts on the ground, but waiting."
The Green Course organization earlier warned that any injuries suffered by soldiers residing in the complex with cost state coffers a large sum.
"The decision makers in this country have a very limited field of vision and see things only in the short term, and they therefore fail to take into account the health implications of this project in another 10 to 20 years," said Didi Zilberman, Green Course's spokeswoman in the south. "We are walking eyes open into a disaster."
