Smotrich links power station approval to Samaria interchange

The Reindeer power station due to be built near Kfar Saba, subject to cabinet approval, has encountered another obstacle. Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich, who has been pushing hard for the power station in previous cabinet discussions, is now insisting that an interchange between Road 6 and Road 55 (Kfar Saba to Nablus) also be built to serve Jewish settlers in Samaria who work in the Sharon region and central Israel.

According to Smotrich, these are agreements that were already reached in the previous cabinet talks on the power station, but were not supported by the Ministry of Finance budget division in the National Planning Commission. At the same time, the Sharon region local authorities that oppose construction of the power station, filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court against the National Planning Commission’s decision to build the power station.

Smotrich says, “I was the one who promoted the power stations, I pushed it in the cabinet in defiance of NIMBY and political pressure from other ministers. Each minister had objections, and I helped reach agreements so the plan would be sent back to the National Planning Commission and be approved with amendments. The plan was sent back but without one of the major amendments, which is the construction of the interchange next to the power station. I am also angry with people in the Ministry of Finance, because I overcame the ministers’ objections, and there is a cabinet decision, which says what the plan would be sent back with.”

Senior political figures have indeed opposed the power station in the past. On the Facebook page “Fighting the construction of the ‘Reindeer’ power plant in Sharon,” there are statements by former Minister of Energy Eli Cohen, saying, “I don’t know what role I will be in, but in any role I will be in favor of this important issue about the power station, I will be here at your side.” The Facebook page also has a statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying “We will not build this plant in the place we are talking about.” On the other hand, a cabinet decision on the electricity sector development stresses the need to build power stations, close to centers of demand, to ensure a reliable electricity supply at reasonable prices.

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Smotrich says, “I’m not willing that after there were agreements, we do not stick to them. One of the comments was that granting the permit would involve planning and budgeting for the interchange that connects Road 55 to Road 6, and everyone who comes from the Samaria region will benefit from it. I had to do that to get it through the cabinet, reach an agreement, and then the officials do whatever they want.”

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Smotrich is demanding, in principle, that the construction of the interchange be conditioned on the construction permit for the power station, but this is a problematic precedent on a legal level. Therefore, he would only be willing to compromise if “The planning director reserves a location for it, because otherwise, the station could be built where the interchange should be, and a budget summary is also needed, and then I might be willing to give up anchoring it within the plan. In any case, we need to make sure that happens.” From Smotrich’s perspective, the burden of proof lies with the planning director, the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, the Ministry of Transport, and also the budget division of the Ministry of Finance, which he heads.

At the same time, the local councils in the area (Kfar Saba, Alfei Menashe and South Sharon) have filed a petition with the Supreme Court against the decision of the National Planning Commission to approve the power station. South Sharon Regional Council head Oshrat Gani Gonen says “Despite widespread public opposition, the National Planning Commission has again approved the plan, but we will not stop sounding the alarm and fighting until this dangerous plan, which appears to be motivated by outside interests, is canceled. It is impossible for them to approve the construction of two power stations in the same local authority, with one of them adjacent to Kalkilya on the one hand and to residents’ homes on the other.” According to her, “The security risk is serious and I call on the cabinet to stop this dangerous move for the health and security of all of us.”

Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on July 31, 2025.

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