After its earlier plan to merge Cross Israel into Netivei Ayalon ran into strong opposition from the Transportation Ministry, the State-owned Companies Authority has now proposed a compromise. On Thursday evening it asked Netivei Yisrael to examine merging half of Cross Israel’s operations into it, while the other half would be absorbed by Netivei Ayalon.
At the start of the year, the authority had pushed for a full merger of Cross Israel with Netivei Ayalon, which would have taken over all of Cross Israel’s activity. The Transportation Ministry fought the plan, refusing to give up a company whose annual turnover is about 2.4 billion shekels. In a letter to the minister responsible for government companies, David Amsalem, the ministry argued that such a move would significantly harm the state’s ability to advance and manage complex national projects and would overload Netivei Ayalon, which handles transport projects in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area.
The new compromise would split Cross Israel between the two state companies. The authority sent a similar letter to Netivei Ayalon, saying it was also examining a merger there. Netivei Yisrael, one of Israel’s largest government infrastructure companies and a regular manager of some of the biggest development budgets for intercity roads, welcomed the move.
Netivei Yisrael chairman Yigal Amadi called the review “a badge of honor” that reflects the company’s organizational strength and central role in shaping Israel’s transport infrastructure. He instructed CEO Nissim Peretz to lead a team to prepare a staff work plan examining overlapping areas of activity and the structural, budgetary and administrative implications of a possible merger. Netivei Yisrael is due to submit its findings to the State-owned Companies Authority in early July. Cross Israel’s responsibilities include toll roads, national infrastructure and public transport projects, including the expansion of Highway 6, the Nofit light rail line, and the construction and operation of park-and-ride lots. In July 2025, after eight years in office, Cross Israel CEO Dan Shenbach announced his resignation, although he was expected to remain until a replacement was found. No successor has been appointed yet, and that may no longer be necessary.
