High Court allows Bazan to build new power plant after old one damaged by Iran |
The High Court of Justice has ruled that the National Planning and Building Council acted lawfully in allowing the Bazan oil refineries in Haifa to build a new power facility without a building permit, due to special circumstances, but stressed that it is valid for only three years.
The new gas-driven facility requested by Bazan is intended to replace an old one damaged by Iranian missiles during Israel’s previous war with Iran in June 2025.
The facility was hit twice during that war, and twice again during the military operation against Iran earlier this year. During last year’s military confrontation, three Bazan workers were killed in a missile-related fire.
The court did, however, note in its Sunday ruling that the refineries will have to be closed in accordance with a government decision to do so by the end of the decade.
The case against the new power station was brought by the Haifa Municipality, the Haifa Bay Area Cities Association for Environmental Protection and environmental organizations, including Green Course.
Central to the issue of exemption from a permit is a temporary order under the planning and building law, which allows the Interior Ministry to waive certain provisions of the national planning law to fast-track projects “of national importance and urgency.” It was designed to allow quick repairs and rehabilitation following the October 7, 2023, Hamas invasion of southern Israel and the subsequent war.
The order, known as Section 266E, has been employed in dozens of cases to help rebuild communities along the Gaza border.
In July, in response to an Energy Ministry request, the Interior Ministry proposed exempting Bazan from the........