A friend of President Trump who owns a US construction firm is seeking to be involved in the building of a potential US military base in southern Israel that could cost $600 million, according to a report in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
Israeli media first reported last month on the plans for the US to build a base on the Gaza border that would house thousands of US and international troops tasked with maintaining the Gaza Cease. At this point, it’s unclear if what’s being called the “International Stabilization Force” will come together since countries are hesitant to commit troops over concerns they may end up fighting Hamas on behalf of Israel, but the Haaretz report suggests steps are being taken inside Israel to prepare for the construction of the base.
The report said the US base is expected to “generate revenues worth billions of shekels for whoever builds it” and that there are “already parties positioning themselves to profit from it,” including the Disaster Management Group (DMG), a Florida-based firm that specializes in the construction and operation of temporary facilities.
DMG is owned by Nathan Albers, who is close to President Trump and a frequent visitor to the Mar-a-Lago resort. The Haaretz report said that an official in Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs approached the Israel Land Authority (ILA) to arrange a meeting between senior ILA officials and DMG representatives.
The meeting was scheduled for December 8, and a jet registered in Albers’ name landed in Israel that day on a direct flight from Miami and left two days later. Albers’ company has benefited from other Trump administration policies, and is involved in a $1.3 billion project to build a major tent city detention center for migrants in Texas.
The potential US base in Israel is expected to be very large. “Israeli figures involved in food imports have already been contacted by representatives of American companies regarding the feasibility and cost of feeding 10,000 soldiers who would be permanently stationed at the base,” the Haaretz report said.
The report also suggested it was possible that the base could actually be built inside Gaza. “The approach to the ILA underscores the broader questions that would arise if a decision is made to move forward with the base: whether it would be built within Israel’s sovereign territory or inside the Gaza Strip, beyond the Yellow Line under IDF control,” the report said.
The US has already established a small base in southern Israel, known as the Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC), where it has deployed about 200 troops to oversee the Gaza ceasefire, which Israel continues to violate by launching attacks against Palestinians and maintaining restrictions on aid entering the Strip.
According to a recent report from The Guardian, US logistics experts arrived at the CMCC to help boost aid deliveries, but they soon learned that the biggest impediment to the shipments was Israel’s restrictions, and that within weeks, several dozen had left. The report also said that the IDF was spying on US troops and allies working at the CMCC.
