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Stable Countries Do Not Surrender Their Strategic Assets
(l-r:Gerry Platt, Ari Harow, Eric Rappaport, MK
Yuval Steinitz, MK. Naomi Blumenthal, Dr. Julio
Messer)
By Dr. Yuval Steinitz
Not since the 12th Century BCE when the Trojans
allowed that famous horse into the city and
brought about their own downfall, has something like
this happened. Israel in a modern version of the
story, has on its own account invited the strongest
and most dangerous Arab army to deploy in the
demilitarized Sinai Peninsula along the Negev-
southern border, within proximity of its major air
bases and other strategically sensitive areas.
During the Camp David negotiations in 1978, former
Prime Minister Menachem Begin concerned about
Israel's relatively small size was obstinate that no
Egyptian troops be allowed in Sinai, agreeing only to
a small contingent of police officers armed with
handguns alone. In recent testimony before the
Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Dr.
Meir Rosen a former Begin aide, said that when the
PM became aware of Egyptian intentions to request
the future deployment of thousands of troops in
eastern Sinai, he adamantly declared the old
axiom "better to die than to transgress".
Egypt's military buildup in recent decades is alarming.
Since the early 1980's Egypt has used American
foreign aid toward the purchase of advanced
weaponry, achieving military superiority over all other
Arab and African countries. The fact that a poor
country like Egypt would divert most of its resources
and aid toward military spending raises concerns that
its sole purpose is to be directed at Israel. More
disturbing is the fact that since the mid 90's most of
Egypt's military exercises have simulated combat with
Israel, and in recent years it has invested heavily in
moving bases and military infrastructure to its
northeastern region closest to Israel.
Currently, the Egyptians seek to squeeze another
concession out of Israel in the guise of their sudden
willingness to combat the smuggling of weapons
emanating from their own country. Their insistence
on adding 800 soldiers along with tanks and armored
personal carriers in the Philadelphi corridor between
Sinai, Gaza, and Israel, proves that rather than
confront the smuggling they intend to militarize the
DMZ of eastern Sinai. Otherwise, why not allow a
similar amount of police officers instead?
There is of course more to it than that. Egyptians
interpret Israel's concession as only the start toward
fulfilling their dream of "returning their military
sovereignty" to eastern Sinai, and have as Begin
once feared already requested further deployments
of thousands of troops along Israel's southern border
all the way to the Eilat region. All experts agree
however that Egypt's failure to tackle the smuggling
until now is due to a lack of motivation not
manpower, and that should it wish to, could easily
stop it entirely without altering Sinai's demilitarized
status.
The Demilitarized Zone in eastern Sinai is Israel's
strategic asset, and stable countries do not
surrender these for questionable tactical promises.
Will Jerusalem act like the Trojans and suffer a tragic
loss of strategic common sense?
Dr. Yuval Steinitz is Chairman of the
Knesset Foreign
Affairs and Defense Committee.Yediot
Achronot
This article first appeared in the Israeli daily , and
was translated from the Hebrew
by
Eric Rappaport Senior Policy
Advisor,
American
Friends of Likud.
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| Recent Likud Events-L.A. |
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American Friends of Likud Western States
Region
recently hosted Finance Minister Benyamin
Netanyahu at the Beverly Hilton Hotel,
in
support of our
our Caravan for Democracy High School
Advocacy
Program. Special thanks to our Western
States
Chairman Robert and Melanie Rechnitz,
Merv Adelson,
and Beny and Adele Alagem for
hosting the event.
(l-r: The
Netanyahus, AFL member Merv Adelson, and the
Schwarzenegger familiy)
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Israel's Economic Affairs Attache in the
United States
Ron Dermer, spoke recently at the home of
Sam and Ardyth Freshman in
Beverly Hills.
(AFL Beverly Hills
Chapter with Sara and Benyamin Netanyahu)
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| Recent Likud Events-N.Y. |
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An AFL President's Club reception was held
at the
Safra Synagogue in honor of former
Minister Natan
Sharansky. He later spoke to an over capacity
crowd
about his bestselling book "The Case for
Democracy",
in the main sanctuary. The evening was co-
sponsored by AFL and the Safra
Synagogue.
(l-r:Malky and AFL Chairman Phil Rosen, AFL Board
Member Gerry Platt,
and Natan Sharansky)
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MK Michael Ratzon met with AFL's
Board of Govenors
to discuss Israel's current and future
political state
of affairs, his vital committee work on behalf of the
proposed constitution, and the World
Hunger Day which he
attended in Washington D.C.
(l-r:MK Michael Ratzon, AFL President Dr. Julio
Messer, MK Michael Eitan, MK Naomi Blumenthal)
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| AFL Leadership Mission to Israel |
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The Board of Directors and Govenors of American
Friends of Likud recently visited Israel, where
they
held several high profile meetings with
Ministers, MKs,
and policy experts. Some of those met
include FM Silvan Shalom, Vice PM Ehud
Olmert,
Minister of Education Limor Livnat,
Minister of
Agriculture Yisrael Katz, and Minister Tzachi
Hanegbi.
Highlights of the trip
included a security tour of the
Golan Heights, visiting a Bedouin
village with Hasbara specialist Ishmael
Khaldi ,and viewing some of the latest Israeli
technological inovations in the robotics lab at the
College of Judea and Samaria with former
Minister of Defense Moshe Arens.
AFL
held a reception in
honor of the Defense and Foreign Affairs
Committee
with Likud Central Committee members at
the Begin
Center in Jerusalem and were also the
guests of MK
Naomi Blumenthal and the Constitution, Law
and
Justice Committee at her home in Tel-
Aviv.
(l-r:AFL Board Member Sharon Tzur, President
Dr.Julio Messer, MK Michael
Eitan, AFL Board Member Gerry Platt, and AFL Sr.
Policy Advisor Eric Rappaport)
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| Upcoming Events-L.A.-N.Y.-CONN.-FL. |
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MK Uzi Landau will be in Los Angeles
and the Bay Area July 21-24, and will be
speaking on Shabbat the 23rd at both the
Beth Jacob and Nessa
Congregations. An AFL Young
Professionals event is scheduled for 7PM
onTuesday the 26th of July at 767 5TH AVE. (on the
corner of 59th and 5th) Conference Room 25K. He
wil also be speaking at Beth Israel in
Norwalk, Connecticut on Wednesday the
27th of July at 8PM. From there he will travel to
South Florida where he will attend an
evening event at the Palm Beach Synagogue
at 7:30PM on Thursday the 28th of July, and spend
Shabbat with the
Shul of Bal Harbour. There will also be a
brunch given in his honor at 9AM on Sunday the 31st
of July at the Safra Synagogue in Turnberry.
Schedule is subject to change. Please contact
erappaport@thelikud.org or
rlanger@thelikud.org with any inquiries.
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| 35th WZO Congress Of The Jewish People and Elections |
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The 35th World Zionist Congress - 'The Congress
of
the Jewish People' -- will meet in
Jerusalem next year
to debate critical political, religious,
and educational
issues affecting the Jewish people and to
allocate
funding for many important causes at this
crucial
time in Israel's history. Every Jew who
subscribes to
the Jerusalem Program and who will be at
least 18
years of age by June 2006 is entitled to register and
vote. The US elections to the WZO
Congress is the
most open and democratic election in the Jewish
world today.
The 145-member American delegation is
second in
size only to Israel's. Americans' diverse opinions will
significantly affect the final decisions of the entire
Congress, which includes representatives from more
than 40 countries. If you care about Israel,
if you
care about the Jewish People now is the
time to
stand up and be counted. Make sure your voice is
heard. Register and vote for
American Friends of
Likud!
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Register Now |
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| AFL N.Y. Regional Director |
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American Friends of Likud is proud to
announce the
appointment of Rebecca Langer as our
N.Y.
Regional Director. She recently graduated from
Brandeis University with a double major in
Politics and
Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies.
Rebecca will
coordinate AFL's young professional
activities as well
as all other events in the tri-state area. If you are
interested lease
contact her at rlanger@thelikud.org with any
inquiries.
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