

An Iron Dome rocket defense system deployed in Haifa, northern Israel. (Oliver Weiken/EPA)

Our colleague Walter Pincus wrote in November about a mysterious, five-story, underground facility that the Army Corps of Engineers was going to oversee for the Israel Defense Forces.

It was called “Site 911” and was to include the usual stuff: shock-resistant doors, protection from nonionizing radiation and such. Only U.S. firms could bid on the contract, a corps notice said. The structure will be on an air force base near Tel Aviv and the guards have to be Israeli air force vets.

Non-Israeli workers can only come from “the U.S., Canada, Western Europe countries, Poland” and a few other countries, including China, the notice said, which would at least save them the trouble of hacking our computers to get the info. “The employment of Palestinians is also forbidden,” the notice said.

When Pincus asked the Pentagon about the purpose of Site 911, he was told that only an Israeli Defense Ministry spokesman could provide an answer.

Well, we don’t know what it is, but we now know how much the building and six other above-ground buildings are going to cost: just a bit over $62 million, according to FBO Daily.

Could be a great bargain. Or maybe not.