The Bat Yam Municipality has issued a call for proposals for the planning and construction of a 1.5-kilometer artificial island off the city’s coastline.
In the publication, issued by Bat Yam’s economic development company, the municipality says it is seeking “proposals, ideas, models and the like from architects, planners, designers, development companies or any other professional entity with an idea or vision that could be suitable for the realization of the project.”
Bat Yam Mayor Tzvika Brot told Calcalist that he has recently been in contact with several government ministers on the issue, though he has no formal approval or guarantees.
“I intend to sit on their jugular until this happens,” Brot said.
The idea of building an artificial island off Israel’s coast has circulated for years. In July 2022, Israel Ports Company published a document prepared for the Israel Land Authority that examined the possibility of constructing an artificial island to serve as a supplementary airport to Ben Gurion Airport.
According to that document, “constructing an airport on an artificial island in Israel’s open sea is challenging due to the country’s harsh maritime conditions, unlike Japan or China, for example, where such projects are located in relatively calm bays.”
The document also emphasized the environmental challenges, noting that “the construction of an artificial island affects the movement of sand along Israel’s coastline. The natural movement is from south to north toward the Haifa Bay area. Near Hadera, significant quantities of sand still move along the shore. An artificial island would disrupt this movement, causing sand accumulation south of the island and erosion along beaches to the north.”
The document added that massive quantities of sand would be required to build the island, along with large amounts of rock for breakwaters.
Brot said the need for an artificial island stems from Bat Yam’s geographic constraints.
“Bat Yam is trapped between Tel Aviv, Holon and Rishon LeZion. We have nowhere to expand,” he said. “The only options are to grow upward, meaning build higher, or to build into the sea.”
He said the island would not be especially large and would allow for dense construction that could reduce pressure on existing neighborhoods.
“In other words, it would enable urban renewal within Bat Yam without necessarily adding housing units or increasing neighborhood density,” Brot said.
Brot emphasized that attracting young people to the city is a key goal. He also acknowledged that the plan is tied to Bat Yam’s need for commercial property tax revenue, which the city currently lacks almost entirely.
Under his vision, the island would include employment centers, commercial areas and residential construction, and would be built by a private developer under a BOT public-private partnership model.
According to Brot, the island would be built about one kilometer from the shoreline and connected to the city by a bridge from southern Ayalon. Preliminary assessments by the municipality estimate the cost of constructing the island at about $13 billion, with total costs including development reaching $30 billion. The expected profit for the developer is estimated at $50 billion.
By comparison, Bat Yam’s municipal budget for 2025 stands at 1.3 billion shekels.
Brot acknowledged that the initiative faces significant bureaucratic obstacles, as there is currently no statutory framework for such an island.
“If I wait for the government, it won’t happen,” he said. “My goal is to see this happen in a short time frame. I’m hearing a great deal of openness from government ministers and from professional officials. I’m going all in on this.”
Beyond regulatory challenges, the initiative is expected to face opposition from environmental groups.
“The Bat Yam Municipality is acting as if there is no climate crisis and Mediterranean storms do not exist,” said the Israel Union for Environmental Defense. “There is no logical explanation for this strange call for proposals to plan an artificial island off the city’s coast.”
“They understood back in the previous century that these are not resort islands with white sand and palm trees, but massive structures that block views, halt sand movement to the point of beach disappearance, and cost enormous sums at the public’s expense,” the group added.
Israel’s Planning Administration said in response: “We have no information regarding the sources or data on which the Bat Yam Municipality based its determination that constructing an artificial island is feasible, or what needs this move is intended to address.”
The Transportation Ministry said, “The issue has been under professional review for some time. The staff work carried out by the Bat Yam Municipality in recent years is expected to be completed soon, after which professional dialogue will continue between the ministry, the municipality and relevant bodies based on the data presented.”
The Environmental Protection Ministry said: “The call for proposals published by the Bat Yam Municipality has not yet been reviewed by the ministry. The issue will undergo professional examination, and once relevant staff work data are transferred to the ministry by the municipality, an orderly discussion will be held to present the ministry’s position.”