Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threw his support to a plan for building an artificial island alongside a Tel Aviv beach to replace an airport due to be shut down.

Netanyahu backed the project proposed for Israel’s Mediterranean coast Thursday during a meeting with cabinet ministers and government officials to decide how to accommodate air traffic when Sde Dov Airport is closed.

The government decided in 2012 to shut the field because of its close proximity to Tel Aviv’s northern neighborhoods and concern over air and noise pollution.

Plans call for some 12,000 apartments to be built at the site once the airport is demolished. The larger Ben Gurion International Airport will receive most flights now at Sde Dov until the island is built on reclaimed land. Others will be routed to the southern resort town of Eilat, the prime minister said.