More Than Billion Pounds Spent for Military Needs in Occupied Areas, Says Dayan

Defense Minister Moshe Dayan disclosed today that Israel has spent 1.3 billion pounds during the past five years to build a military foundation in the occupied areas. He said that more than half of that sum had been spent in the Sinai Peninsula where a network of roads, airfields, and army installations have been built for quick deployment of Israeli forces should the need arise. He spoke at a graduation ceremony for the staff and command college.

Stressing the “enormous” expenditures modern warfare requires, Gen. Dayan cited figures on military electronic devices. In 1967, he said, outlays on such equipment for the army totaled 60 million pounds. In 1972, the total reached 350 million pounds.

In the future, he reported, stress on strengthening the armed forces will be on the armored units and the air force. The two branches, he said, will absorb 80 percent of the budget for expanding the armed forces. He said Israel’s armored forces had been doubled since the Six-Day War while the Arabs were increasing their armor by 250 percent. He said the same ratio applied to the Israeli and Arab air forces.

He said he felt that while Israel was ready for an interim pact on the Suez Canal, the Arabs were not. Accordingly, he said, Israel must operate on the assumption that for the time being, Israel will not be able to achieve either “agreed and secure borders anchored in peace agreements” or even an interim agreement. He said “we shall have to continue the way we have the last five years–learn to live in an arrangementless arrangement. We will have to fortify our lines, improve our military installations, settle permanently in areas across the green line,” a Dayan euphemism for the occupied areas, “and above all ensure a strong Israeli army.”