The cabinet on Sunday approved in a unanimous vote the establishment of a new town for the Israel Defense Forces' training camps in the Negev. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the weekly cabinet meeting that "this is one of the most important issues with which the government of Israel has dealt with, due to its impact on the Negev."

The town will accommodate approximately 11,500 soldiers and the projected cost of relocating the current training camps is NIS 3 billion.

The Prime Minister's Office said also that the construction of the town is expected to be completed by 2011, subject to its compliance with health regulations. The cabinet decision has been delayed for several years due to fears of health hazards caused by the site's proximity to the Ramat Hovav industrial zone and related air pollution issues.

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Defense Minister Amir Peretz told the cabinet that he is now convinced that the planned location is health hazards-free. Peretz said that IDF chief medical officer Brigadier General Hezi Levy, who attended the meeting, "had been utterly scrupulous in matters concerning pollution.

Levy assured the cabinet that "there will be no environmental damage."

Olmert added this is an "historical change" for the Negev and that the government would assign a task force to ensure the project is carried out by "Israeli working hands from the south."

Environmentalist groups held a protest outside the Prime Minister's Office during the cabinet meeting. The protesters demanded the plan be approved only once a health survey is held at the site of the town. Such a survey will take five years to complete, by which time the town would have already been built.

MK Ahmed Tibi (Ra'am-Ta'al) voiced his dismay at the cabinet decision, saying "it's time the government established a new Arab town. Not a single new Arab community has been built since the establishment of Israel, and such a decision is of utmost importance," he said.