IDF establishing new Intelligence Center in Negev

Israel is currently in the process of relocating some of its military headquarters and a number of bases to the south of the country to free up much sought-after land for housing and to improve living standards in the Negev.

Israel’s Ministry of Defense (MOD) has undertaken the first steps to move its intelligence facilities to southern Israel and on Tuesday published the performance qualification phase (PQ) for the establishment of the new Intelligence Center in the Negev, the first step toward the tender for the complex.

The IDF is financing and building the base in collaboration with the private sector (PFI) which will provide the financing, design, development and operations of the campus for 25 years.

The tender for the new base is the largest in the framework of the extensive national project to relocate numerous IDF bases to southern Israel and release land that is in high-demand in the Gush Dan and Tel Aviv area, thus solving to some extent the housing problem in the area as well as simultaneously upgrading the infrastructure and quality of life in the Negev.

Companies that meet the PQ requirements will compete in the tender process to prove their ability to comply with the financial, engineering, telecommunications and operational requirements of the project.

Use of the center is expected to begin by the end of 2022, and will bring some 80 percent of the IDF Intelligence Corps to southern Israel.

The Intelligence Center will be built adjacent to the Omer community near Beer Sheva, and will comprise roughly 350,000 square meters of developed area. Its construction and operations will be characterized by innovative planning with advanced, energy efficient infrastructure, the MOD stated.

The development of the center in the Negev will be the most significant component of the IDF’s relocation to the south.

The Ministry of Defense is currently finishing the development of the Training Center and bringing it to full occupancy. Additionally, the tender process for the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Center in Be’er Sheva is underway and is expected to be completed by the end of 2017.

“The Ministry of Defense has prepared itself to adhere to the timetable to which it is committed in order to construct these bases,” is stated.

By: Aryeh Savir, World Israel News

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