Premier Outlines Future Organization of Israel’s Army; Officers to Be Trained Abroad

A blueprint of the government’s compulsory military service bill was sketched for the Knesset last night by Premier David Ben Gurion who also announced that Israeli Army, Navy and Air Force officers will be sent abroad to receive training in the military academies of various Eastern and Western nations. The Premier declared that the armed forces would be distinguished by the following four basic characteristics:

1. A permanent land, sea and air force of limited proportions. Its personnel will be volunteers attracted by pay and other conditions that would be equal to those prevailing elsewhere in the government service.

2. A body of recruits, who will join as soon as they reach 18 years of age if they are Israeli residents, and new immigrants up to the age of 26, who will join the service upon arrival here. This group will receive both military and agricultural training.

3. A reserve force composed of all persons who have seen active service with the Army. The reserve will be subject to short annual periods of active service.

4. Specially fortified frontier settlements whose residents will be soldier-farmers. These settlements are expected to withstand the first shock of an invasion and hold off the enemy until regular Army units arrive.

The aim of the bill, Premier Ben Gurion stated, is to train the entire population to be ready for action in the event of an emergency. No other nation, desiring peace so much, is faced with such a lack of security as Israel, he insisted. Until war is outlawed in the world Israel will remain confronted by the threat of renewed attacks and invasion, he added.

Israel is a small nation, he said, and even with the extension of immigration will remain a minority in an “Arab ocean.” The “laws of nature” are that defeated countries do not forget their rout and seek opportunities for vengeance, the Premier declared. Pointing out that the Arab states are unstable and that the Arab masses do not influence political life in those countries, he stressed that any weakness in Israel is liable to awaken “dormant tendencies toward revenge.”

Expressing the opinion that the factors which made for victory in the late hostilities would still hold for Israel in any future conflict, he warned that the Arabs’ future battle potential would be different than it is today and that it is “our duty to be prepared.”

The security of the state does not depend on the Army alone, the Premier told the parliament. Other factors include the rapid extension of immigration and the balanced distribution and settlement of the population on the land. For this reason, therefore, immigration must proceed regardless of economic considerations, Mr. Ben Gurion emphasized. He maintained that Israeli youth must be trained in sea and air warfare because Israel had no land link with the rest of the world, in the event of a war.

Finally, he pointed out that one element must not be overlooked in the security situation–the development of a “peace-loving foreign policy” and the “prevention of war-mongering intrigues.”