The agreement to relocate IDF bases and set up tens of thousands of housing units all across Israel will be expanded upon, the Defense Ministry announced on Wednesday.
Israel Land Authority (ILA) head Yaacov Quint and Defense Ministry director-general Amir Eshel agreed to accelerate negotiations on the relocation of additional IDF bases.
IDF bases are being relocated to free up as much land as possible in areas with high housing demands as well as increase trade, tourism and employment.
Renovation of IDF infrastructure is also a priority for the Defense Ministry, which will look to move camps to northern and southern Israel.
Israel is in a housing crisis, as housing prices in Israel have gone up 7.4% in the last year according to the Central Bureau of Statistics.
Israel's demand for housing far outpaces supply.
Rafi Shulman, co-founder of Olim Advisors, an organization that helps people make aliyah and find a home in Israel, said the prices of properties are skyrocketing because of the crowded real estate market.
Some of the IDF bases that will be evacuated are Tzrifin's Israeli Air Force (IAF) unit 108, Central MARPA (Medical Corps base) and the C4I Corps unit, for a total of 4,000 new housing units.
Camp 80 (also known as Batar Dotan) in Pardess Hanna will be relocated and 1,140 housing units will be built in its place. In addition, Israel Navy's Haifa training base, officially 'Bahad 600,' where most navy soldiers start their military service, will be evacuated for a total of 1,350 housing units, a 250-room hotel and a 20,000 sq.m. commercial center.
In total, 9,000 new housing units will be built all across Israel.
Head of the logistic operations and assets division in the Defense Ministry Alon Ifrach, who leads the Defense Ministry's negotiation team and director of development and infrastructure division of the ILA Omri Vardika are holding marathon sessions in hopes of completing the negotiations.
It is expected they will reach significant and comprehensive agreements by the end of the year.