Israel
Campaign against second international airport in Megiddo
The campaigners against the construction of a second international airport in Megiddo argue that according to the estimation of many experts in the fields of transportation, aviation, and the environment, the construction of a new international airport at Megiddo will result in the complete ruination of the view, the land, and of the Israeli inheritance.
Gathered at campaign headquarters were members of the regional council of Megiddo, the Association of Valleys and Open Spaces, and the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, for a press conference aimed at highlighting their opposition to the construction of a new international airport in Megiddo.
A committee under the leadership of Brigadier General Herzl Bodinger, setup by former Minister of Transport Shaul Mofaz, made recommendations to the government of Israel on steps required to handle the expected increase in passenger air traffic in the coming years.
Arguments from the campaign headquarters: “It is totally absurd and doesn’t serve Israel’s national interest, which should be the preservation of open areas, preservation of significant agricultural land reserves in the Jezreel Valley, the development of rural tourism, and the preservation of environmentally- and ecologically-sensitive areas.”
According to Hanan Erez, head of the Megiddo regional council, constructing a second international airport in the area would critically damage the fabric of rural life and completely wipe out the burgeoning tourist industry, which has brought hundreds of thousands of Israeli visitors to the valleys. It would also result in the accelerated urbanization and industrialization of the region, none of which would be in the national interest and especially not for the citizens of the valleys.
Retired Major General Alik Ron, a resident of the settlement of Tel Adashim, close to Megiddo, said that David Ben Gurion’s vision of a blossoming Negev had yet to be fulfilled. Now was the time to preserve the heritage of the Jezreel Valley and to construct the new airport in the Negev.
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