Work on Golan Heights wind farm suspended

Yesterday evening, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif, the spiritual leader of the Druze community in Israel, and informed him that he had decided to accede to his request and to suspend work on the ARAN wind farm on the northern Golan Heights until after the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha (the Feast of the Sacrifice). This year, the holiday falls from June 27 to July 1.

Netanyahu’s decision was made on the recommendation of Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) head Ronen Bar and Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai, and against the position of Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir, who took the view that work on the project should continue in any case. The prime minister also gave instructions for solutions to be promoted in the next few days to the housing shortage in Druze settlements on the Carmel and in Galilee, which affects the whole Druze community, including Druze soldiers released from the IDF.

The storm over the ARAN project broke last Wednesday, when twelve people were injured in confrontations between Druze demonstrators and the police. Four policemen were lightly injured, and three demonstrators were severely wounded by gunfire, and four others had moderate or light wounds.

The ARAN (“Clean Wind Energy”) project began as a joint venture between Druze residents of the northern Golan Heights and Energix Renewable Energies, who wanted to advance jointly a national infrastructure project for producing electricity from wind power. It consists of 21 wind turbines, with an output of 104 megawatts. Its cost is estimated at NIS 700 million. ARAN is intended to provide power to 50,000 households for twenty years. The project involves clearing mines left since the Six Day War of 1967 from 170 dunams (42.5 acres) of land, and restoring the land to agricultural use for the owners. Druze residents claim that the people from whom the land for the project was leased are not the true owners. The issue has become a rallying point for the airing of various grievances of the Druze community.

On Thursday morning, work on the site was stopped until the conclusion of a police review of the situation, for fear of further violent protests. Ben-Gvir, however, swiftly ordered that it should proceed. “The works on the Golan will continue until the eve of the Feast of the Sacrifice, will stop during the holiday, and will resume immediately afterwards,” the minister announced after a meeting with Sheikh Tarif in the Druze village of Julis in the Western Galilee. In the end, however, the prime minister ordered an immediate cessation of the works, before the holiday.

Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on June 25, 2023.

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