Ben-Gurion International Airport. Photo: George Dement via Wikimedia Commons.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the advancement of a plan to build a new international airport on an artificial island off his country’s Mediterranean coast.

According to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office, the directive was given at a ministerial committee meeting held earlier this week.

Ben-Gurion International Airport is believed to be too small to accommodate the ever-growing number of visitors to Israel expected in the coming years.

“In order to provide for the accelerated growth in the number of tourists arriving in Israel,” the statement said, “Prime Minister Netanyahu directed that a plan be advanced to build an airport on an artificial island adjacent to the coast of the State of Israel.”