Debt ridden Eilat Port to close Sunday

Eilat Port will shut on Sunday after Eilat Municipality seized its financial institution accounts following non-payment of municipal taxes, that are estimated at NIS 600,000-700,000 monthly. The port has not been working absolutely for the reason that outbreak of the conflict and the specter of Houthi assaults on transport utilizing the Purple Sea.

The closure of the port can be a blow to the Israel Navy, which has used its amenities for the reason that begin of the conflict and also will adversely have an effect on the Europe Asia Pipeline Co. (EAPC), and exports of potash from ICL’s Lifeless Sea Works.

Initially Eilat Port denied experiences of its imminent closure, insisting it might attain a settlement with the municipality and saying it was cooperating with the mayor. However a letter from the Nationwide Emergency Authority obtained by Globes confirms the small print. The letter says, “Following the shutdown of Eilat Port for ongoing operations and the financial scenario it has discovered itself in on account of the persevering with disaster, the Eilat Municipality has notified the port administration of the seizure of the entire port’s financial institution accounts as a result of monetary money owed to the municipality. Resulting from this, a discover has been acquired from the Transport and Ports Authority that Eilat Port is predicted to shut and stop all exercise beginning this coming Sunday.”

It provides that the importance of that is: stopping all port exercise; disabling the port’s tugboats and vessels; stopping help to the Israel Navy within the Purple Sea theater; stopping the export of potash from ICL vegetation; Stopping help to the EAPC port; it additionally says, “If the scenario continues, a decline within the port’s gear and long-term harm to the continuity of its functioning is predicted on account of the shutdown of cranes, electrical methods, and so on.”

Emergency assembly

The report was additionally forwarded to the Ministry of Transport, whose director common Moshe Ben Zaken has instructed “Globes” that he has known as an emergency assembly on the topic, with the participation of presidency ministries, the Eilat Municipality, and the port, to be able to avert the deliberate closure.

The Nakash brothers purchased the rights to function Eilat Port for 15 years in 2012, with an choice to increase by 10 years, for NIS 120 million. The Nakash brothers have been the only bidders on the finish of the tender course of with trade sources believing that they had paid a low quantity for the rights with estimated income price tons of of hundreds of thousands of shekels to be made.

When the conflict started, the port specialised in importing automobiles, with 50% of the automobiles introduced into Israel unloaded there. As well as, an EAPC line for transporting crude oil and exporting fertilizers and minerals additionally operates within the port space. In response to knowledge revealed within the discussions of the Knesset Financial Committee, the port house owners withdrew a dividend of NIS 162 millio within the 4 years previous the conflict.

Compensation and help plan In June, the cupboard voted on a compensation plan for Eilat Port, which might be given as much as NIS 15 million compensation, conditional on cost of utilization charges that the port has but to pay the state for the reason that outbreak of the conflict, price over NIS 3 million.

The federal government initially met the port’s calls for with skepticism, given the previous income of its house owners and the idea that the safety danger in working it was embodied within the low worth paid by its house owners on the time of buy. Nonetheless, the port is certain by collective agreements and restrictions on its workforce administration, together with the truth that the worthwhile unloading of automobiles has been reduce by 100%.

In 2023, the port’s income was NIS 212 million whereas in 2024, when the Purple Sea commerce route was closed, income fell 80% to simply NIS 42 million. In 2023, over 134 ships visited the port, and 150,000 automobiles have been unloaded. In 2024, no automobiles have been unloaded, and solely 16 ships visited the port. Within the first half of 2025, solely 6 ships visited the port.

Prior to now, the port was supplied with help as a part of the marketing strategy for all the economic system for 2023 and as a part of a chosen plan to help companies in tourism-oriented cities for the primary two months of 2024. The port additionally acquired a deferral in cost of person charges to the state price NIS 3.2 million and a state assure for a mortgage of as much as NIS 30 million, of which NIS 16 million was utilized.

The federal government is crucial of the port’s non-payment to Eilat Municipality, as a result of help already given, and the truth that the port was privatized, and simply as its house owners made a revenue for a decade till the outbreak of the conflict, so they need to “take cash out of their pockets” in troublesome occasions.

However though the port is non-public, it’s also a strategic asset of the state, and it’s uncertain whether or not the efforts made to this point have been sufficient to maintain it open.

Revealed by Globes, Israel enterprise information – en.globes.co.il – on July 16, 2025.

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