Defense Minister Gen. Moshe Dayan said yesterday that the Sinai Peninsula is as vital to Israel’s security as the Golan Heights of Syria. Until its capture by Israeli forces in the June, 1967 war, the Golan Heights provided a stronghold from which Syrian gunners could fire at will on Israeli settlements and farmlands in the valley below. “Any child can understand how vitally important Golan is for Israel,” Gen. Dayan said at the annual meeting of the Israel Exploration Society in Ashkelon.” But most people do not understand that the Sinai and especially the Straits of Tiran are equally important to our strategic security.” he said.
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