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Netanyahu lets deadline for resuming work on controversial Golan wind farm slip by
Credit: By Omer Sharvit, 14 August 2023, timesofisrael.com ~~
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Translate: FROM English | TO English
Construction on a controversial wind turbine project in the Golan Heights that sparked large protests by members of the Druze community has not resumed despite the Prime Minister’s Office telling the company behind the project that they could return to work no later than August 1.
In June, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a temporary halt to the project following violent protests and set up an inter-ministerial committee to address the issue.
In a letter sent by Netanyahu’s military secretary Avi Gil to Energix, the company behind the project, the developers were informed that the committee would present its findings by July 19 and were requested to delay continued construction until the start of August.
However, the committee has so far met twice and plans to meet a third time. It has not yet presented any findings.
Energix is currently willing to wait a little longer in the hope that the issue can be resolved, but if the state continues to block the project it could be opening itself up to a demand for compensation, with the company already having invested some NIS 500 million (133 million.)
Sheikh Muafak Tarif, the leader of the Israeli Druze community, warned at the time that the government must stop work on the wind turbines near the town of Majdal Shams or face “a reaction the country has hitherto not seen,” and called on the prime minister to seek an arrangement that would be acceptable to Druze residents.
The mass protests against the wind farms devolved into riots in June, with Druze demonstrators burning tires and hurling rocks, fireworks and Molotov cocktails at massive police forces securing the area. Twelve police officers were wounded, as were eight demonstrators – four of them seriously, including one from gunfire.
Israel has sought to veer its energy production increasingly toward clean methods, with wind power a critical component of those plans. The Energy Ministry has said in the past that the Golan Heights, with its high altitude and windswept valleys, is an optimal location for wind farms.
Landowners who signed lease agreements with Energix say they weren’t made aware of the potential implications of having turbines on their plot. They say they were tempted by hefty sums into signing what they describe as draconian leases that, coupled with a boycott on the company imposed by influential religious leaders, have made many want to withdraw.
Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Six Day War and annexed the territory in 1981 – a move that was not internationally recognized until the administration of former US president Donald Trump did so in 2019.
This report first appeared on Zman Yisrael, The Times of Israel’s Hebrew-language sister site.
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