Knesset Panel Debates Fast-Tracking AI Data Centers as National Infrastructure

Israel’s Interior and Environmental Protection Committee held a session on Tuesday on a bill that would classify artificial intelligence data centers as national infrastructure and allow them to move through an accelerated planning track. The proposal, discussed under the Planning and Building Law, sparked a sharp clash between advocates of faster technological development and critics worried about damage to the electricity system and the environment.

At the opening of the debate, Brig. Gen. Erez Ascal, head of the National AI Headquarters, called AI “the new oil” and said it is vital to Israel’s national security and economic resilience. He warned that dependence on foreign countries could create real security risks. Ascal said the headquarters wants to encourage private companies to build such facilities quickly, with a cap of up to 10 data centers a year and limited electricity quotas in central Israel.

Opponents argued the bill would sacrifice planning and open space. Galit Shaul, head of the Hefer Valley Regional Council, said it means “giving up the basic right to plan” and warned of losing open areas. MK Yorai Lahav Hertzanu said the proposal was “not mature” in his view, while MK Mati Tzarfati Herkabi said, “We have lost our sovereignty and we are fully controlled by the wealthy and not by the holders of power.”

Representatives of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel and Lobby 99 said AI server farms consume massive amounts of power, comparable to a large city such as Haifa. Citing international examples, they warned that unchecked approval could drive up consumer electricity prices, delay the phaseout of coal, and even risk a grid collapse, as happened in Ireland in the past. Committee chair MK Yitzhak Kroizer closed the discussion by saying Israel must balance its technological ambitions with other needs, and that the committee will not slow development but will not take away what “our children and grandchildren need and deserve.”