While the United States’ supervision of the construction might seem strange to some, it isn’t all that surprising given the tight U.S.-Israeli relationship, especially in security matters. As insane as it sounds, even the New York Police Department has a branch in Israel.
The facility is expected to take over two years to build with costs up to $100 million (surprisingly low given that we earmarked $235 million for Israel’s Iron Dome system last year while the U.S. didn’t have a penny to spend).
According to Walter Pincus’s article for The Washington Post, Site 911 will have classrooms on Level 1, an auditorium on Level 3 along with a laboratory hidden behind shock-resistant doors.
The facility will also be shielded from non-ionizing radiation and boast what Pincus calls “very tight security,” which is likely an understatement based on Israel’s already quite remarkable security measures.
The precise purpose of Site 911 remains unclear since Pincus noted that when he asked the Pentagon and the Army Corps of Engineers, they both said that the answer could only be provided by a spokesman for the Israeli Defense Ministry.
Perhaps most shocking of all is the fact that the Corps is seeking another contractor for an additional secret construction project in Israel, also in the $100 million range, to be awarded next summer.
This second secret construction project will involve “a complex facility with site development challenges” and will require “electrical, communication, mechanical/HVAC [heating, ventilation, air conditioning] and plumbing” services.
This similarly mysterious project will require the U.S. contractor to have a U.S. secret security clearance or an equivalent security clearance from Israel and will take an estimated 2.5 years to complete.
Pincus notes that the other mysterious project “sounds like a secure command center” while the “purpose of Site 911 is far less clear.”
Even those working on the construction of Site 911 will require security clearance and guards will surround the fence. Further, barriers will separate Site 911 from the rest of the Israeli base.
According to the latest Army Corps of Engineers notice cited by Pincus, only American construction firms allowed to bid on the project with proposals due by Dec. 3.
However, Site 911 isn’t all that unique since, according to Pincus, it is just “the latest in a long history of military construction projects the United States has undertaken for the IDF under the U.S. Foreign Military Sales program.”
Pincus cites the 1998 Wye River Memorandum between the Palestinian Authority and Israel which led to some $500 million in U.S. construction of Israeli military facilities.
Most of these facilities were built in the Negev Desert “to ensure there were bases to which IDF forces stationed in the West Bank could be redeployed,” according to Pincus.
The many projects have included the Army Corps of Engineers building underground hangers for Israeli fighter-bombers along with facilities for the handling of nuclear weapons, although Pincus points out that Israel refuses to admit that they have such weapons.
Other projects have included command centers, training bases, intelligence facilities, simulators and most recently hangers, maintenance facilities and headquarters to support the Eitan drone.
Yet all of these projects seem to pale in comparison as Pincus says that it is apparently “one of the largest projects” and it definitely seems to be one of the most ambitious.
The first three underground floors will be 41,000 square feet each, according to the notice from the Corps, with the smaller lower two floors designed to hold equipment and thus.
While the construction firms themselves can only be from the United States, they are allowing employees hired by the contractors to be from countries other than America and Israel.
However, the countries allowed (not including the U.S. and Israel, of course) are quite slim and according to the Corps notice can only be from “Canada, Western Europe countries, Poland, Moldavia, Thailand, Philippines, Venezuela, Romania and China.”
The security for the construction is quite tight with the site allowed to have “one gate only for both entering and exiting the site” and “no exit or entrance to the site shall be allowed during work hours except for supply trucks.”
The security for the site will be provided by Israeli civilians with Israeli Air Force experience.
The Corps notice added that “the collection of information of any type whatsoever related to base activities is prohibited.”
Other aspects of Site 911, according to the Corps notice, are designed by Israeli architectural firm Ada Karmi-Melamede Architects. According to Pincus the site will “be decorated with rocks chosen by the architect but purchased by the contractor” and three picnic tables are also planned for the site.
The Corps solicitation included details of mezuzahs “for each door or opening exclusive of toilets or shower rooms” throughout the entirety of the Site 911 facility.
This appears to be in line with the interpretations of Jewish law which demand that the Torah verses written on parchment and placed in a small case be placed on every door in a home.
The Corps notice goes into even greater detail about the mezuzahs noting that they “shall be written in inerasable ink, on . . . uncoated leather parchment” and handwritten by a scribe “holding a written authorization according to Jewish law.”
Continuing, the notice states that the writing can be “Ashkenazik or Sepharadik” yet it cannot be a mixture of both and “must be uniform.”
“The Mezuzahs shall be proof-read by a computer at an authorized institution for Mezuzah inspection, as well as manually proof-read for the form of the letters by a proof-reader authorized by the Chief Rabbinate,” the Corps notice continued.
“All Mezuzahs for the facility shall be affixed by the Base’s Rabbi or his appointed representative and not by the contractor staff.”
Aside from the intricate details, we know very little about Site 911 or the other secret $100 million project.
The looming question is, why the sudden need for all of these expensive, secret and thoroughly mysterious facilities in Israel?
Let us know what you think in the comments section of this post.
UPDATE: Below are the actual Federal Business Opportunities postings. For those who want to maintain this information, it is highly recommended that you mirror the sites or take screenshots of the pertinent information.
Site 911, dubbed simply “Construction Project in Israel” — more information can be found on the Army’s Single Face to Industry (AFSI) site.
The second project, dubbed “Site 911 Phase 2“
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