The Defense Ministry on Tuesday, 12 Menachem Av, 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. It is done in collaboration with the private sector (PFI) and includes the financing, design, development and operations of the campus for twenty-five years. This will be the largest tender in the framework of the extensive national project relocating numerous IDF bases to southern Israel. Those which 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.

The PQ is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2017, with the release of the tender expected in the third quarter. Use of the center is expected to begin by the end of 2022 and will bring some 80% of the IDF Intelligence Corps to southern Israel.

The Intelligence Center will be built adjacent to the Omar community in southern Israel, 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 majority of the IDF Intelligence Corps will transition to serve at the complex in order to release high-demand land in Gush Dan. The release of these lands is part of a multi-year government program in order to tackle the housing problem as well as upgrade the infrastructure and quality of life across the Negev.

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 ICT Center in Beersheva 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 which was committed to in order to construct these bases.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)