Defense Minister Shimon Peres said today that Israel’s chief problem is defense, not the economy. If it was only the economy he would not have opposed the cut in the Defense Ministry’s budget voted by the Cabinet yesterday, Peres told an audience of students in Beersheba. Defense is Israel’s first priority and the IL 500 million cut is therefore not easy to accept, he said.
Peres praised the quality of Israeli youth. He said 50 percent of those conscripted into the armed forces were potential officer material.
Peres could not say what the repercussions of the Lebanese conflict might be for Israel. On one hand, its outcome could create a better atmosphere for talks between Israel and its neighbors–Egypt, Syria and Jordan; on the other hand, Peres said, the dissension and frustrations experienced by the Arab states in Lebanon could increase their truculence producing a deteriorated situation that could lead to a new Middle East war.
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