web analytics
June 20, 2013 / 12 Tammuz, 5773
At a Glance
News
Sponsored Post
Bicycle in South Pioneers of the Periphery: Olim of the South

Got that pioneering spirit? You’re invited to help build Israel’s periphery by planting roots in southern soil with Nefesh B’Nefesh.



Home » News » Israel »

Israel May Build Artificial Islands to Alleviate Shortage of Space

tell a friend
PM Benjamin Netanyahu at weekly cabinet meeting.

Photo Credit: Marc Israel Sellem/Flash90

Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Cabinet today voted to establish a steering committee to explore the technological feasibility of constructing artificial islands off the coast of Israel.

A statement released by the Prime Minister said that the islands would be created for infrastructure purposes, namely “an airport, seawater desalination plants, and power stations.”

Israel, which is approximately the size of the state of New Jersey, is also a very densely populated country – with an average of 982 people per square mile (for comparison, the population density of the US is 83 people per square mile). Thus, it is grappling with a shortage of space and questions of how to mitigate it.

“Our state is small and crowded,” the Prime Minister said. “Therefore, the idea of artificial islands has spatial, economic and security logic for us. It is also of value regarding environmental protection. There is no doubt that this entails many opportunities for the State of Israel.”

According to the statement, the committee will present its conclusions and recommendations to the prime minister within a year.

The idea has been floated in the past, most recently in March 2011 by Transport Minister and Likud MK Yisrael Katz, who sought to build the islands off the coast of Gaza as a long-term alternative to the blockade of the Hamas-run territory.

At the time, Katz said he had discussed the idea with the Prime Minister and got the go-ahead to forge a plan. “We have built models and there are many entrepreneurs who are interested and prepared to invest billions and make money,” Katz told Army Radio. Environmentalists were critical of the idea, saying it would take an unforeseen environmental toll on the coast of Israel and Gaza.

tell a friend

About the Author:


You might also be interested in:


If you don't see your comment after publishing it, refresh the page.

2 comments so far

2 Responses to “Israel May Build Artificial Islands to Alleviate Shortage of Space”

  1. Kate Ray says:

    Love this. Keep that Land of Milk and Honey flowing – quite literally!

  2. Rich Schmidt says:

    After stating that Israel is: 1) about the size of New Jersey and 2) very densely populated at 982/sq mile hence needing more space, it would make sense and be useful to also state that New Jersey has a population density of 1182/sq mile to continue the relevant comparison.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_population_density

SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend

Latest News Stories

Bud Selig, the commissioner of Major League Baseball, will be honored B’nai B’rith International ,which will award him its Distinguished Humanitarian Award on June 27 in New York City for his efforts in youth education and training, diversity and environmental advocacy. Among those scheduled to speak at the dinner honoring Selig are Sharon Robinson, the [...]

Vandalism at Warsaw Ghetto Uprising memorial

The same day Michelle Obama visited a Holocaust memorial in Berlin, vandals in Poland remembered the Holocaust and Warsaw Ghetto Uprising by defacing a memorial.

Yisrael Beitenu  Knesset Member Shimon Ohayon, on United Nations World Refugee Day, called on the Arab League to accept responsibility for the exodus of Jews from the group’s countries before and after the re-establishment of the State of Israel . “The Jews of Arab countries, starting in 1947, were used as weapons by the Arab [...]

Iran's president-elect was on the Iranian committee than plotted the deadly bombing a Jewish center in Buenos Aires in 1994

Every normal person knows Rohani is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. For the abnormal, (Read: Western diplomats) guess what? He helped plan to kill Jews in Buenos Aires and backed hiding Iran’s nuke program.

A 13-year-old girl died while being circumcised by a doctor in a small village northeast of Cairo, according to the website Al Masry Al Youm. Suhair al-Bata’a, who went by the nickname Soo-Soo, died of a “sharp drop in blood pressure resulting from shock trauma,” was the statement given by officials following the child’s autopsy. [...]

They can be done by the office of the mayor and the mayor can choose to make these as a priority, and see it through.

Syrian rebels for the first time have accused Hezbollah of using chemical weapons in battles with the Syrian opposition forces. According to the Rebel sources, the forces of Syrian President Assad and Hezbollah used poison gas during the Thursday morning shelling of Zamlika, near Damascus. The head of the UN team examining reports on the [...]

He said the politicians on the predominantly Jewish Soviet government ‘were guided by false ideological considerations and supported the arrest and repression of Jews.’

Anerican actor James Gandolfini, whose depiction of Tony Soprano in HBO’s “The Sopranos,’ about a troubled mobster trying to balance his family life and his life of crime, died on Wednesday while vacationing in Rome. The presumed, but not yet confirmed, cause of death is a heart attack. Gandolfini won three times both the Prime [...]

The first official effort of the US to begin peace talks with the Taliban ended in disaster when the Taliban proclaimed itself a sovereign nation, enraging Karzai, who then called off bilateral security talks with the US.

Sometimes, in this country, when things are going crazy all around us, and our worries are riddles with worries, and our anxieties threaten to overwhelm our sanity, we just need to look at our children. What a fine bunch of children we’ve raised here. Sweet, and honest, and bursting with joy. You’re worried about the [...]

Offshore gas fields should be allowed to export no more than 40 percent of the natural gas they produce, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced Wednesday. The Cabinet is expected to approve the recommendation at Sunday’s weekly session. The limit is more restrictive than the 53 percent that was suggested by a committee set up to [...]

The UN only recently expanded its presence in Mogadishu, believing the terrorist organization al Shabab had been routed by African Union peacekeepers.

Pet Shop Boys singer Neil Tennant defended his band’s decision to play in Israel amid pressure from the Boycott Israel movement to cancel the June 23 concert. A statement by Tennant was posted on the British duo’s official website following the release of a poster showing them wearing sunglasses stamped with the captions “1 child [...]

Cisco’s CEO touts Arab-Jewish teamwork, meet with Peres, announces an innovation venture with   Bezeq communications system, and predicts Israel will be the world’s first totally digital country. Cisco CEO John Chambers, speaking about his company’s involvement in Israel Electric Corporation’s fiber optic venture, predicted on Wednesday, “Israel is about to become the first fully digital [...]

Four Israeli Jewish teenagers were detained by police Wednesday for bowing down at the Temple Mount, an act that seen as a prayer and which is prohibited by the Muslim Waqf, the Muslim religious administration that is authorized by Israel to manage the holy site. A rabbi also visiting the site told Israel National News [...]

More Articles from Jewish Press Staff
Vandalism at Warsaw Ghetto Uprising memorial

The same day Michelle Obama visited a Holocaust memorial in Berlin, vandals in Poland remembered the Holocaust and Warsaw Ghetto Uprising by defacing a memorial.

A fiber-optic array for detection of breast cancer by way of Diffuse Optical Tomography.

Cisco’s CEO touts Arab-Jewish teamwork, meet with Peres, announces an innovation venture with   Bezeq communications system, and predicts Israel will be the world’s first totally digital country. Cisco CEO John Chambers, speaking about his company’s involvement in Israel Electric Corporation’s fiber optic venture, predicted on Wednesday, “Israel is about to become the first fully digital [...]

One of them was the New York City subway plot of 2009.

Upon completion of Yeshivat Maharat’s four-year program, each graduate is qualified and equipped as a new kind of leader in the Orthodox community and beyond.

“Keys would have none of it from a person who is one step above a lunatic shouting anti-Semitic canards on the street.”

A few boys began to push him, trying to make him trip and fall while he was dancing.

    Latest Poll

    Female, Orthodox, Halachic Deciders and Spiritual Leaders (Maharat)









    View Results

    Loading ... Loading ...

Printed from: http://www.jewishpress.com/news/israel/israel-may-build-artificial-islands-to-alleviate-shortage-of-space/2012/06/17/

Scan this QR code to visit this page online:

Close