The Ministry of Defense has estimated that the evacuation from the Sinai over the next three years will cost Israel IL 10.5 billion. This includes the enormous task of dismantling, transferring and rebuilding various structures, the setting up of a new defense line and the building of three airfields in the Negev, two of which the United States is helping to construct to replace the two Israel is abandoning in the Sinai The work is to be done by regular army and reserve units with only a small portion being given to private contractors.
Israel is to complete the first step in the withdrawal by Dec. 26. This would deploy the forces along a line that runs from east of EI Arish to west of Sharm el-Sheikh. All steps of the evacuation must be completed within three years.
Forces will be deployed during the evacuation steps in such a manner that Israel can meet any violation of the treaty, including a surprise attack such as the one that launched the Yom Kippur War. Israel has made the construction of early warning stations a top priority. New sophisticated and costly warning stations will be set up to replace stations such as the one at Umm Khashiba, which are being abandoned.
During the evacuation, Israel will leave the roods it built in the Sinai and underground cables and take only those parts of the water system it will need for its new installations. Houses and other buildings that can be dismantled will be taken back by Israel, while permanent buildings will be left in place. Bunkers, concrete shelters for planes and other installations that can be used for war will be demolished.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
