The Ministry of Finance is seeking to advance the establishment of Israel’s next airport so that it will be operated by a private company, rather than by the Israel Airports Authority (IAA). The plan has drawn criticism, including from the Histadrut and from the IAA itself.
“This is a situation in which we will manage traffic for airports that compete with us,” said the IAA Deputy Director of Operations, Assaf Ben Michael, during a Knesset discussion. “This issue and the professional gaps are not regulated in law.”
The discussion took place in the Knesset Economic Affairs Committee. It marked the first deliberation in preparation for the second and third readings of the bill that would allow private companies to establish and operate airports in Israel.
The Ministry of Finance had originally sought to advance the initiative as part of the Arrangements Law, but it was split into a separate bill several months ago, in accordance with the position of the Knesset legal adviser, Sagit Afik.
The government has been searching for a location for a supplementary airport to Ben Gurion Airport for a long time, and during this period has gone through a wide range of alternatives for its placement.
The Ministry of Finance has formed a position that the construction and operation of the new airport should be carried out by a private entity, which would be granted ownership for decades, rather than by the Israel Airports Authority.
This approach is consistent with the ministry’s policy in many other areas, such as the construction of Highway 6, a model known in professional terminology as B.O.T (Build, Operate, Transfer). Under this model, a private company builds and operates the infrastructure for an extended period, after which it is transferred to the state.
Within the Israel Airports Authority (IAA), the issue is raising serious concerns. “The discussion is not mature,” said Attorney Pesach Brand, the IAA’s representative, during the hearing. “The Treasury has rushed to advance the law, but it has not sat with us to address a series of fundamental issues, and it is not appropriate to do this on the committee’s table.”
The Ministry of Finance argued that “the law was drafted in full cooperation with the Ministry of Transport and the Civil Aviation Authority,” according to Daniel Schwartz, the Treasury’s transport coordinator.
However, Schwartz acknowledged that no discussions had been held with the IAA, and he promised to schedule an initial meeting soon.
“The Israel Airports Authority Should Be Allowed to Participate in the Tender”
The Histadrut representative, head of the Public Transport Division Uri Matoki, also expressed concern about the plan and its implications for national security.
“After the events of October 2023, it is a national mistake to rush into transferring critical infrastructure into private hands,” he said. “Israel is an island state that is heavily dependent on its aviation infrastructure, and we have seen that in every round of fighting foreign companies disappear.”
Matoki referred, among other things, to the situation at airports and seaports, where many foreign companies stopped or significantly reduced operations during previous escalations.
“The Israel Airports Authority works very well, and there is no reason to transfer management to a body driven by private profit motives. We are also concerned about harm to workers’ status and wage conditions.”
Shalom Danino, from the Likud party, was filling in during the committee meeting for the chair of the committee, his party colleague David Bitan.
Danino agreed that advancing supplementary airports is of great importance. However, he said that the Israel Airports Authority (IAA) should not be prevented from competing in the tender, even if the Ministry of Finance seeks to block it.
He also addressed the concerns raised by Matoki regarding workers’ rights, saying that fair wages must be ensured.
The Treasury representative Schwartz urged those present to accelerate the passage of the law.
“The public may not feel it in day-to-day life, but the situation is very serious. Ben Gurion Airport will reach its capacity limit in 2034, and we are already behind schedule. If we do not move forward with the supplementary airport, the aviation sector will face a severe shortage of supply,” he said.
In practice, however, the Treasury itself has contributed to delays: the law would likely have progressed faster if it had focused solely on establishing the airport, rather than requiring it to be operated by a private company.
Ramat David, Ziklag, or Both
Schwartz also referred to the two main options for the location of the new airport—Ramat David in the north and Ziklag in the south.
The establishment of a new airport in Israel is indeed considered necessary as soon as possible by most experts, due to the rapidly increasing rate of flights, which is expected to reach capacity constraints in the coming years.
However, alongside the consensus on the need to build the airport, and the dispute over whether it should be operated by a private company, the disagreement over its location has intensified.
After several political twists, the Ramat David alternative appeared to be on the verge of winning, after MK Almog Cohen succeeded in advancing a bill for its approval in its first reading.
However, the government then proposed a new option: an airport in Ziklag, near Kibbutz Mishmar HaNegev and Rahat. This option had hardly ever been discussed before, and no planning had been carried out for it. Since then, despite several delays in its advancement, it has remained the main alternative being promoted by the government.
As a result, the Ramat David option, which is already at a relatively advanced planning stage, is competing with an option whose planning has barely begun.
Yaakov Yoffe, Deputy CEO for Aviation at Netivei Israel, said that work on the Ziklag plans only began about a month and a half ago, but emphasized that the company is advancing both alternatives in accordance with the instructions of the Ministry of Transport.
“In the professional aspect, we are making progress,” said Yoffe during the discussion, “but we are entirely dependent on this law, so that we do not get stuck with a ready tender that cannot be published.”
The representative of the Ministry of Transport, Ofer Elisher, supported his remarks. Elisher added that according to the 2050 strategic plan, demand requires the establishment of two additional airports—a policy that has already been previously announced by Transport Minister Miri Regev.
