The Israeli army has begun dismantling its installations in Sinai in preparation for the first stage of its withdrawal from the peninsula to be completed nine months after the peace treaty with Egypt is ratified.
Acting on direct orders from Defense-Minister Ezer Weizman who is in the United States, army transport units, the engineers corps and auxiliary units are loading ammunition and equipment on trucks and taking down prefabricated buildings. Gen. Avraham Adam, the Deputy Chief of Staff, is commanding the vast evacuation operation.
The activity is concentrated in northern Sinai inasmuch as Israel has agreed to return the administrative capital of Sinai, El Arish, to the Egyptians at an earlier date than originally contemplated. This will be within the first two months of the initial nine month withdrawal stage. The army stressed that the work just begun is preparatory. The full-scale evacuation will begin only after the Passover holidays, three weeks from today.
ITEMS TRANSFERRED TO NEW LINE
All moveable items will be transferred to the new line that extends from just east of El Arish on the Mediterranean to Ras Mohammed on the Red Sea. The bulk of the equipment will be stored in the Negev where the Israeli army is to be re-deployed and a massive new military infrastructure built. It was learned that the re-deployment will take into consideration that the main military threat to Israel in the future will be on its eastern front rather than from Egypt.
Preparations are being made for Israeli-Egyptian military committees to meet on security matters. As a first step, direct telephone communications will be re-established between the Israeli and Egyptian defense ministries.
BITTER FEELINGS AMONG SETTLERS
The evacuation moves have engendered bitter feelings among the Jewish settlers in Sinai, particularly those in Yamit, the largest township, who will be moved out of the territory during the final stages of withdrawal.
The Yamit settlers are furious with the government for its failure to consult or keep in touch with them. So far, the government has not set up the machinery or even an official body to deal with their problems. Today, Yamit residents resorted to a familiar form of protest–blocking the main Sinai road with tractors and piles of burning tires.
Some of the settlers, however, believe that in the end they can forestall their evacuation, not by demonstrations but through negotiations with President Anwar Sadat of Egypt. They want a meeting with Sadat to see if they can arrange to stay in Yamit as Israeli citizens after all of Sinai is returned to Egyptian sovereignty. The settlers have cabled Sadat to this effect and also cabled Premier Menachem Begin while he was in Washington to use his good offices to arrange a meeting with the Egyptian leader.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
