A Defense Ministry spokesman has denied that a decision has been made to build a third deep-water port for Israel on the northeast shore of the Sinai peninsula between Raffah and El Arish. The denial referred to a report broadcast on Kol Israel radio that planning crews have already been assigned to the project. But the Jewish Telegraphic Agency learned from reliable sources that plans have been discussed to build a new port city in the Sinai that would serve as the main outlet for Israeli phosphate exports from the Dead Sea and Negev regions. The city could serve as an urban center for Jewish settlements planned in the area, several of which already exist. A 16,000-acre site has been surveyed for that purpose and found suitable for an initial population of 40,000, the sources said.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
