Ashtrom is one of the largest Israeli construction and infrastructure companies, operating in the areas of contracting, franchising, industry, residential property, renewable energy and international operations.

The Jerusalem Light Rail

Ashtrom was involved in the construction and operation of the Jerusalem Light Rail (JLR) and holds, through its prior 50% stakes in CItyPass, which was the previous operator of the JLR.

The Jerusalem Light Rail (JLR) network is a large-scale Israeli transport infrastructure project connecting large settlement blocks in occupied East Jerusalem to the center of the city and its western side, creating territorial continuity and easing settler movement on both sides of the Green Line.

In February 2021, CityPass handed over the operation of the Red Line of the JLR to the Israeli government, which paid the CityPass Group NIS 1.6 billion. By the end of 2021, Ashtrom Group reported that the CityPass Consortium received NIS  1.45 billion, from which the Ashtrom Group has generated NIS 500 million in revenue. In 2020, Ashtrom Group announced that they are expected to gain approximately NIS 630 million from the sale.The Ashtrom Group was also involved in the construction of the JLR depot in the settlement neighborhood of Pisgat Ze’ev in occupied East Jerusalem.

For more on the Jerusalem Light Rail read Who Profits latest publication “Developments in the expansion of the JLR network: The J-Net project”

Quarrying

Ashtrom Group owns 50% of the shares of Netivey Edomit (2011) Ltd., which operates the Netivey Edomit Quarry next to Mishor Adumim settlement industrial zone in the occupied West Bank. The other 50% of the shares are owned by Y.D. Barzani.

The quarry provides different types of aggregates, and asphalt mixes for construction work, and includes an asphalt plant with a production capacity of over 500 tons per day.

Netivey Edomit provided asphalt and construction materials for a 4 km section of Begin Road in Jerusalem, connecting Malha neighborhood to Beit Safafa in occupied East Jerusalem.

Settlement Expansion and Construction on occupied land

Through its fully owned subsidiaries, Ashtrom took part in the construction of settlements in the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Syrian Golan since 1970, including the settlement neighborhoods of Gilo, Ramot, Ramat Eshkol and Nof Zion in East Jerusalem, and Beitar Illit, Oranit, Alfei Menashe, and Ma’ale Adumim in the West Bank. In 1994, Ashtrom took part in the establishment of the Beitar Illit settlement in the occupied West Bank.

Between the years 1974-1980, the company was involved in settlement construction in the occupied Sinai Peninsula, including in the Israeli settlements Yamit and Ofira (both of which were evacuated in 1982 under the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty).

Services to Israeli Ministry of Defense (IMOD)

Ashcrete Industrialized Construction Plants, a fully owned subsidiary of Ashtrom, provided a NIS 2 billion construction work for the “City of Training Bases”, an Israeli military training campus in the Naqab. The campus spreads over 2,500 Dunam and includes 120 different buildings equipped with smart technology designed for classes and trainings of over 100,000 Israeli military soldiers and personnel.

In 2004, Ashtrom won a tender of the Israeli Ministry of Defense for the supply of construction materials for the construction of checkpoints in the Separation Wall.

Services to the Israeli Prison Service (IPS)

Ashcrete Industrialized Construction Plants, a fully owned subsidiary of Ashtrom, opeates a concrete factory in Pisgat Ze’ev settlement in occupied East Jerusalem. The company provides concrete blocks for the IMOD and the Israeli Prison Service. In 2021, Ashtrom Group, Ashcrete Industralized Construction Plants and Ashtrom Industries, won a tender for the expansion of the Ofer Prison by adding prison cells for 480 prisoners. Ofer Prison is an Israeli prison located in the occupied West Bank where Palestinian political prisoners are incarcerated. The company has also carried out construction work in Ofer prison in 2009-2010.

Additionally, the company has carried out construction projects for the IPS in Hasharon prison between 2001-2003, and in Saharonim  prison where Palestinian political prisoners are held.