The largest logistic operation ever conducted by the Israeli army was completed today as Israel is scheduled to move to a new line in the Sinai Wednesday. The new defense line will run from Ras Mohammed to El Arish.
While the area will be turned back to Egypt Wednesday, the Refidim military base and airfield, the largest in the Sinai, will be given back to the Egyptians at a ceremony Friday. Defense Minister Ezer Weizman today visited the base which was the logistic center for the army in the Sinai. The only construction left at the base is that found when Israel captured it in 1967. However, water, telephone and electrical lines were left intact.
The latest Israeli withdrawal involved dismantling and removing 3500 buildings and other structures, 250 kilometers of water pipes and 87,000 tons of equipment. Convoys of trucks had crisscrossed the Sinai bringing this heavy load either to the Negev or the new line which will now cut the Sinai in half.
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.
