“Israel needs two new container terminals within the next decade”, said Shlomo Brieman, CEO of Israel Ports Development Co. It is planned that the first new container terminal would go into service in 2018. Both Finance Minister Yair Lapid and Transport Minister Yisrael Katz will have to decide which port project will be given priority or whether they will be developed simultaneously.
Under the plan, an international tender will shortly be published for the operation of the new port by a private company that specialises in the operation of large ports. The port operator that wins the bid will be given a 30-year concession.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who addressed the Israeli Knesset, last week approved the plan by Minister of Transport Yisrael Katz to privatise the new port but will face fierce opposition by the workers committees at Ashdod Port Company Ltd and Haifa Port Company Ltd, and the government is now preparing for a soon to be expected ports strike.