Nesher mayor threatens legal action over Nvidia land deal

The Nesher municipality has joined the threats of legal action against the state if it awards benefits to Nvidia for the new development center that it plans to construct in northern Israel. Last week, we reported that the Confrontation Line Settlements Forum was threatening “legal steps” against such a move by the state. Now, the Nesher municipality says that “wherever Nvidia is offered land together with benefits and an exemption from a tender, contrary to the law, we shall file a petition.” What has the state done in the past to attract giant companies to Israel, and what are the chances of such a petition succeeding?

As we have recently reported, Nvidia, which published an RFI in July for the purposes of buying land for a new development center in the north, is currently on the final straight in choosing the most suitable site for the center. Among the shortlisted sites are the Mevo Carmel Science and Industry Park in the Megiddo local authority, land near Tivon, land in Kiryat Ata, and land in Nesher. As time goes by and the moment of decision approaches, the battle over Nvidia’s new center is heating up, and now some parties are threatening legal proceedings.

The first to do so was Moshe Davidovich, head of the Mateh Asher Regional Council and chairperson of the Confrontation Line Forum of Israel’s northernmost settlements. He is now joined by Nesher mayor Roi Levi. Talking to Radio Haifa at the weekend, Levi said, “When we as a municipality want to make an Urban Building Plan, it takes us two years. When we want to make a deal with the Israel Land Authority, it always takes time. That’s how it is with the bureaucracy here. Here, the state wants to create a hybrid, something that has never existed before – an exemption from holding a tender and tax benefits as well. I’m in favor, but at Shlomi, not Yokne’am. If they go to Yokne’am, to Haifa, to Nesher, let them pay full price, and let the money go to the state, as with any company.

“If they succeed in getting Nvidia into a deal with the state,” he added, “the company won’t stay here. It doesn’t need that headache. This is a deal that will require a full legislative procedure, and we’re entering an election year. Who knows what will happen if a deal isn’t struck quickly? I say, since the Prime Minister’s Office is leading the evacuation of Oil Refineries (Bazan) from Haifa Bay, that’s where Nvidia’s development center should be. One on one instead of Oil Refineries.” The Bazan oil refinery is located in the Haifa Bay area, within the jurisdiction of the Nesher municipality.

According to information that has reached “Globes”, Levi is chiefly outraged by the possibility that land will be allocated to Nvidia in the neighboring city of Kiryat Ata, but he has declared that he will file a petition in any case in the event that the international chips giant is given benefits unlawfully, as he describes it.

At Nesher, Nvidia is being offered the only land that is not state land. This represents an advantage, since private land will save Nvidia the legal headache that an allocation of state land at a discount will entail.

The case of Nvidia is fairly unique: a company looking for 120 dunams (30 acres) of land for a huge development center consisting of 180,000 square meters of built space, in a well-defined area in the north of Israel, south of Haifa. It’s therefore difficult to compare it with other instances in the past, but one thing can be stated with certainty: if the state does award the company land in a in a package that includes tax benefits, it won’t be the first the time that it has done so for a major company. What is more, the law appears to be on its side.

The proposal by the Israel Land Authority and the Ministry of Finance to award benefits to Nvidia on state land that the company chooses is due to be discussed shortly by the Israel Land Council, and this is the body that is meant to approve the proposal. According to chapter four of its constitution, the Israel Land Council “may allocate urban land without a tender per the Mandatory Tenders Law and the mandatory tenders regulations.” Under section 28 of the regulations, “Exemption from mandatory tender,” an exemption from the obligation to hold a tender may be awarded for a transaction in special circumstances “on condition that the exemptions committee, with the approval of the minister of finance, has decided for special reasons that are recorded to exempt it from the obligation to hold a tender.” Since the Ministry of Finance is one of the bodies promoting the proposal, it does not appear that there will be any problem in approving it.

In addition, an examination by “Globes” finds that benefits to Nvidia will not be the first to be given to large companies in connection with leasing state land. In 2001, the state committed to award Intel $437.5 million, and tens of millions of dollars more in tax benefits, as part of an agreement for investment in Israel. That year, Intel was allocated 275 dunams of land in Kiryat Gat by the committee for allocating land without a tender.

In a fresher instance, from November 2024, land was given, with an exemption from a tender, to defense company Rafael in the Ramat Beka industrial zone in the Negev. The company was given 890 dunams for construction of a factory at a discount of over NIS 210 million. It should be mentioned that the location is in a national priority area, making the allocation of land at a discount simpler in this case.

“The state will find justifications

For all the legal grounds and the precedents above, the question remains whether petitions, if they were filed, could put difficulties in Nvidia’s way and delay the purchase of the land for the new development center. Experts to whom we spoke do not rule out the possibility of delays because of legal proceedings, but believe that the petitions will be dismissed.

“To the best of my knowledge, the state and the Israel Land Authority are empowered to give discounts on land in such cases, and I doubt whether such a petition will be accepted by the High Court of Justice,” one source told “Globes.” “Clearly, discounts and benefits have been given in connection with the purchase of land in the past, although it may be that the Nvidia model is a little different. At any rate, the Israel Land Authority can make an individual decision concerning a specific company, and if it’s a matter of land in a national priority area it will be even easier. In any case, I’m sure that the state will manage to find sufficient justifications.”

“As long as legitimate considerations are represented, and it does not emerge that political considerations are mixed up in the matter, a petition stands no real chance,” another source says, but points to another issue in this case. “It’s very strange to give a discount on land to a company that has in any case declared that it is looking for specific land in the north, just to move it from one settlement to another. If they were to give Nvidia benefits so that it would go to Kiryat Shemona, Shlomi, or even Akko, that would make some sense. But just to shift it from Yokne’am to Kiryat Ata or Tivon, that’s odd.”

Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on September 15, 2025.

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2025.