Israel’s Defense Ministry, Finance Ministry and the Israel Land Authority signed an agreement Thursday to evacuate 11 IDF bases in central Israel and the Haifa area to make way for about 19,000 housing units in high-demand areas.
The agreement, known as Shoham 4, covers about 2,300 dunams (approximately 2.3 million square meters or about 568 acres) and will allow construction of roughly 19,000 homes, about 1 million square meters of commercial and employment space (approximately 10.8 million square feet), and approximately 1,000 hotel rooms.
2 View gallery
Rendering of the new neighborhood planned after evacuation of Camp Rehavam in Ramla
(Rendering: Miloslavsky Architects)
Under the deal, the Defense Ministry and the IDF will establish a joint administration to advance a process examining the feasibility of relocating the Kirya military headquarters from Tel Aviv. The move is expected to unfold gradually over about a decade.
Bases slated for evacuation and relocation include the military colleges base in Glilot, which will move to Jerusalem; IDF maintenance and rehabilitation centers in Tzrifin, Tel Hashomer and Haifa; the Dotan training base, known as Camp 80; part of the Home Front Command headquarters at Camp Rehavam in Ramla; the Tira logistics base in Tirat Carmel; and the remaining Tzrifin complex, including four camps housing the C4I Directorate, a regional medical center, the Magal training command headquarters and school, and an Air Force unit.
In the Tzrifin-Magal area, within the municipal boundaries of Rishon Lezion and Be’er Yaakov, 711 housing units are planned on the evacuated base site, along with about 90,000 square meters of commercial and employment space (approximately 969,000 square feet). In the Tzrifin Blue Pearl area, also in Rishon Lezion and Be’er Yaakov, about 1,501 housing units and 176,000 square meters of commercial and employment space (approximately 1.9 million square feet) are planned.
In the Tzrifin maintenance center area in Rishon Lezion, about 110 housing units and 80,000 square meters of commercial and employment space (approximately 861,000 square feet) are planned. In the Tzrifin Marpeh area in Be’er Yaakov, about 242 housing units are planned.
In the Rehavam Ramla area, about 2,250 housing units and 155,000 square meters of commercial and employment space (approximately 1.67 million square feet) are planned. In the military colleges area in southwest Glilot, about 720 housing units and 57,000 square meters of commercial and employment space (approximately 614,000 square feet) are planned.
In the Tel Hashomer maintenance center area, about 6,045 housing units are planned, including 5,461 units in central Tel Hashomer and 584 units in the eastern compound, along with 186,000 square meters of commercial and employment space (approximately 2 million square feet).
In the Camp 80 area, about 1,700 housing units and 19,000 square meters of commercial and employment space (approximately 205,000 square feet) are planned. In the Haifa maintenance center area, about 3,500 housing units and 30,000 square meters of commercial and employment space (approximately 323,000 square feet) are planned. In Tirat Carmel, about 2,135 housing units and 70,000 square meters of commercial and employment space (approximately 753,000 square feet) are planned.
A 2023 State Comptroller report found that the state had marketed only 16% of the housing units planned on evacuated IDF bases. More than seven years after its launch, the Shoham 3 plan to clear bases from central Israel for about 70,000 new housing units had failed to meet its targets. According to the report, only 10% of the planned units had begun construction.
The agreement was led by Defense Ministry Deputy Director General Kobi Blitstein; the Matveh unit in the ministry’s planning branch; the Israel Land Authority’s business division in cooperation with the IDF Planning Directorate’s infrastructure and deployment department; and the Defense Ministry’s planning, engineering and construction, budgets and finance departments.
The signing ceremony was attended by Defense Minister Israel Katz, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, acting Israel Land Authority Director Yadin Maalem, Defense Ministry Director General Maj. Gen. (res.) Amir Baram, and Israel Land Authority business division head Ruth Afriat.