Minister promotes first Israeli-Palestinian airport

After Jerusalem municipality decided to promote construction on lands located over West Bank boundary, Regional Cooperation Minister Frej offers to reopen defunct airport at the site and build a Palestinian terminal next to it

Gilad Cohen|11.30.21 | 20:50

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Regional Cooperation Minister Issawi Frej is promoting the construction of an airport that would become the first-ever airfield under joint Israeli-Palestinian ownership, Ynet has learned on Tuesday.
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The plan comes a week after the Jerusalem municipality green-lit what it described as a new eastern neighborhood on lands located over the West Bank boundary, near the Palestinian hub city of Ramallah.
2 View gallery 
A simulation of an airport at Atarot, Jerusalem 
(Illustration: Kucik Aviram Architecture & Preservation)
The site, which is known by the name Atarot, once housed an airport in the days of British rule but has been since abandoned.
"As Israel's aviation needs increase, with Ben Gurion Airport very close to its capacity limitations, and as the decision on the location of Israel's next airport continues to linger, the existing resource of ready airfields in Atarot must be utilized and reopened as a joint Israeli-Palestinian airport," Frej said.
"The reconstruction of the airfield and its opening will both address the aviation needs of the Jerusalem metropolitan area and also address the need of the residents of the Palestinian Authority for an air entry and exit gate."
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Regional Cooperation Minister Issawi Frej 
(Photo: Yoav Dudkevich)
According to the minister's plan, the airport will be rebuilt and a Palestinian terminal will be built next to it. Subject to security arrangements, it will allow residents of the Palestinian Authority to fly directly from Jerusalem to various destinations around the world.
Frej believes that the airport could serve as many as 5 million passengers annually and will be a boon for the Israeli economy as a whole and Jerusalem's economy in particular.

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whats should we expect from an Arab MK

Reopening this airport has nothing to do with Israel's needs only the Palestinian ones and giving them a foothold in Jerusalem which can only cement their demand that Jerusalem is their capital if it is the site of their international airport. The Israeli government was planning to demolish Atarot and use the land for housing but if there are houses built Jews will live in them not Palestinians and there will be no Palestinian airport in Jerusalem. Frej is an Arab and an MK for Meretz so why should we expect him to come up with any ideas that benefit Israel and its interests when Meretz is one of the Palestinian representative parties in the Knesset along with Joint List and Raam. What the government should be doing is doing more to get the Ration Airport in the Negev up and running so it is a viable alternate destination to Ben Gurion because right now it doesn't seem to be taking many routes. Its the same as Terminal 4 at Ben Gurion, built at great expense and has never been opened to take some of the burn of Terminal 3 its been shut since it was built in the 90s Israel is very good at spending lots of money on big projects but never using them once built.

zionist forever| 12.03.21

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And what about Beersheba Int Airport?

With Beersheba the centre of gravity of Israel, a fast growing industrial/commercial/academic/high tech and tourist centre, the gateway to the South and the cornerstone of the Beersheba/Ashkelon/Ashdod triangle surely it makes sense for a Beersheba Int Airport?

Tim| 12.01.21

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