Israelis Eye Building Islands

The Israelis want to build artificial islands in the Mediterranean, off the coast of Tel Aviv, and put an international airport on one of them. It's been talked about, on and off, for more than a decade; the project has finally been deemed feasable by a planning committee. The panel’s chair said the island chain is needed to support Israeli’s surging economy.

Environmentalists counter that artificial islands would damage the ecosystem, and could threaten tourism in Tel Aviv. Hong Kong and Dubai have man-made islands, the Jerusalem Post notes, but those aren’t located in open sea. The airport would be designed to take the strain off of Ben-Gurion. (More Israel stories.)