THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
40 — BUSINESS CARDS
40 — BUSINESS CARDS
40 — BUSINESS CARDS
A-I Carpentry. Kitchen, bath, for-
mica, basements, etc. State licensed.
261-4356.
CARPENTRY work, inside & out-
side. I. Schwartz. 545-7712.
PLUMRING REPAIRS, Drains,
sewer cleaning,. 24 hr. service.
368-'1754.
C & C TREE SERVICE
DRESSMAKING and alterations.
20 years experience. Call after 5.
968-8490.
Trees trimmed & removed.
Stump grinding & fertilizing.
PLUMBING REPAIRS
Free Estimates.
Disposals, Faucets & Bathroom
Alterations & Violations
398-2026
557-1338
544-9583
DEWEY VIARS
CEMENT CONTRACTOR
Licensed, bonded. All types
of cement work. 25 yrs. ex-
perience. I do my own work.
Free Estimates.
541-6928
Call-A-Maid
557-2008
A-I CUSTOM
PAINTING &
DECORATING
Custom work, household mov-
ing, offices, pocking, piano and
Fine painting & papering, spe-
cializing in foils & decorator
papers.
All
work
carefully
planned with the
personal
friendly touch.
357-1831
if no answer call 557 - 2161
422-3764 (days)
937-8347 (eves)
MOVING CO., INC.
PROFESSIONAL DECORATING
By
ALAN KUMPULA
Cal MARK MICHALSON
Any Size
Fast Service
Clean & Reasonable
JULIUS ROSS
357-2674
Low cost—Color and black & white
by experienced technician .
PLASTERING &
STUCCO WORK
Call RON 988-4576 eves.
appliances. Local and State of
Michigan.
T.V. REPAIRS
398-1754
Rec. rooms, paneling, floors
& ceilings tiled. Miscella-
neous repairs. Also stuccc
k. References and very
._,sonable.
r
Texturing of Walls. Repairs
No Service Charge
CARPENTRY
547-7569
David's Plastering
& Dry Wall
DOMESTIC MAID SERVICE
Fully licensed & Insured.
Interior-Exterior.
Free Estimates. 24 hr. Service.
398-9477
• Efficient • Transportation
• For Home or Office
51 — MISCELLANEOUS
PAINTING
MOSHE FUCHS
Residential
— Free Estimates —
Exterior-Interior Custom Work
Specializing in Staining &
Refinishing
398-8322 or 559-5860
Wet, damp, leaky basements
made dry. Guaranteed 18 years.
Experienced — lowest price;
FRANK'S WATERPROOFING
559-7398
To: The Jewish News
17515 W. 9 Mile Rd.
Suite 865
Southfield, Mich. 48075
WEI AST
8 HP tractor 38" ct. transaxel
drive with snow blade. Cost
over $900, Sacrifice $450.
Also Yardman riding mower
$150.
535-0643
America's
Greatness
The essence of America's
greatness lies in the great-
ness of her ideals, her pas-
sionate belief in the equality
of all men, the sacredness of
each man.
America's greatness lies
in her extraordinary capac-
ity to share her extravagant
bounty with the hungry of
the earth, the poor, the
naked, the homeless.
America's greatness lies
in her ability to champion
the cause of morality and
justice both at home and
abroad without considering
the cost, because in its fin-
est moments America has
known the truth of our Bi-
ble: "Righteousness exalts a
nation but sin is a reproach
to any people."
— Sidney Greenberg
Weizmann Quote
"We who are anxious for
the revival of the scattered
Jewish people treat with
respect and reverence any
similar effort among other
peoples. We are the last, and
we should be the last, to
oppose or discourage such
aspirations in others. We re-
member that the Arabs
were at one time the torch-
bearers and the preservers
of civilization, that they pre-
pared the way for the great
Renaissance. Recognizing
and respecting these aspira-
tions, we regret that there
should have developed be-
tween these two people,
which have cooperated once
before to the advantage of
the whole world, an undeni-
able estrangement."
—Chaim Weizmann
From
Paste in old label
NAME
L
Please Allow Two Weeks
J
As long as the world lasts,
all who want to make prog-
ress in righteousness will
come to Israel for inspira-
tion as the people who have
the sense for righteousness
most glowing and strongest.
— Matthew Arnold
Friday, August 1, 1975 53
Holding Passes Is Advantageous
BY EYTAN HABER
Editor's Note: Eytan
Haber is the military com-
mentator for Yediot Ahar-
onot, Israel's evening
newspaper. In the follow-
ing, Eytan discusses his
viewpoint on whether or
not Israel should surren-
der the controversial Mitle
and Gidi passes.
*
*
*
Apart from Israeli sol-
diers who fought in the War
of Attrition and in the Yom
Kippur War, few people
have ever visited the places
in Sinai that have gained
such wide publicity
throughout the world — the
Mitle and Gidi passes facing
the Suez Canal.
In order to understand
the subject of the bitter dis-
pute between Israel on the
one hand and the United
States and Egypt on the
other, it is well to know sev-
eral basic facts about the
matter and about which
there can he no differences
of opinion.
The present Israeli de-
fense lines in the Sinai Pen-
insula extend over a length
of some 180 kilometers —
from Baluzza on the shores
of the Mediterranean in the
north down to Ras Sudar on
the shoies of the Bay of
Suez. This defense line is
based, in the northern sec-
tion, on impediments
erected by Israeli engineer-
ing units, because the area
is sandy but passable by
military vehicles, while in
the south it crosses the
crests of the passes that
begin at Urn Mahza and Urn
Hasiba and extend south-
ward up to a short distance
from the Suez Bay.
There are at least four
passes through these
heights. Two of them, the
Gidi and the Mitle, have
become world famous; the
less well-known passes are
Wadi Sudar and Wadi
Randal. Further south
there is possibly another
pass at Wadi Firan. These
passes, especially the Gidi
and the Mitle, may be re-
garded as "corridors" into
the Sinai Peninsula and so
may be likened to bottle-
necks which grow wider as
they extend deeper into the
peninsula.
The Gidi Pass, though
only five kilometers in
length, extends over some 30
kilometers. North of the
Gidi is the Urn Hasiba crest
which rises to a height of
640 meters above sea level.
From this crest one gets an
undisturbed view of wide
expanses.
According to reports at-
tributed to foreign sources,
Israel has erected an elec-
tronic warning device at its
summit. The Mitle Pass
which is also about five kilo-
meters in length, extends
over an area of 10 kilome-
ters. Traffic along this pass
must move along a road that
is under observation from
the nearby crests and is
within firing range
from them.
The Mitle Pass proved to
he a trap for the Israeli par-
atropper units in the Sinai
War of 1956 when Egyptian
military units fortified
themselves in the crevices
and opened fire on the Jew-
ish soldiers. Eleven years
later, in the Six-Day War of
1967, the same place became
a cemetery for the retreat-
ing EgyptianArmy when an
Israeli armour unit cut off
the pass to the movement of
military vehicles and
wreaked havoc on the Egyp-
tian tanks as they retreated
to the Suez Canal and into
Egypt. The Israeli Air Force
was thus able to wipe out an
appreciable part of the
Egyptian forces.
From these passes roads
extend eastwards into the
heart of the peninsula. A
breakthrough from these
passes into Sinai would
mean not only a loss of vi-
tal areas but also the pos-
sibility of an extensive de-
ployment of Egyptian
armor.
These are the basic facts
about the area. But one
should mention several
changes that have taken
place on Israel's southern
front since the Yom Kippur
War.
The Egyptians have set up
posts and fortifications
along the Suez Canal. In
these fortifications on the
eastern banks of the canal
they are in a position today
to concentrate all their in-
fantry divisions, each con-
sisting of some 10,000 men.
According to various
reports, the Egyptians
have on several occasions
held canal-crossing ma-
neuvres and are capable of
completing the operation
within six-12 hours. In
other words, the Egyp-
tians are in a position to
cross the canal in great
force during one single
night. On the western
banks of the canal the
Egyptian armor divisions
are located in a position to
cross the water by means
of scores of bridges and
rafts undisturbed by the
free shipping in the canal.
The present Israeli de-
fense lines in Sinai have sev-
eral advantages:
• Due to the passes, the
lines are relatively short;
• Owing to the hillcrests
and the narrowness of the
passes, the lines can be de-
fended with relatively small
forces;
• Because of the swampy
area north of this line,
Egyptian maneuvering pos-
sibilities are limited, al-
though they can infiltrate
small units, particularly
commando units into the
region; and
• The present line brings
the Suez Canal area within
Israeli firing range.
The fact that the Israeli
forces are stationed along
the Gidi and Mitle passes in
no way implies that Israel
will go to war, even if the
Egyptians should decide to
transfer scores of thousands
of solidiers to their fortified
positions on the eastern
banks of the canal. Israel
might mobilize small forces
and wait and see how things
develop.
The picture of the situa-
tion is therefore clear. In or-
der to defend these passes,
one does not require a lot of
armor, for infantry and an-
ti-tank weapons would suff-
ice. That is exactly what the
Egyptians keep there today
— considerable infantry
and commando forces as
well as anti-tank missiles. If
these passes were to be
handed over to Egypt they
could, in the event of war,
force Israel to fight under
difficult conditions and ex-
act a very heavy price in
lives.
Another aggravating dis-
advantage from the Israeli
point of view is the fact that
the hillcrests, if they should
he surrendered to Etypt,
would enable them through
electronic devices to monitor
extensive areas in Israel, not
to speak of the whole Sinai
Peninsula. Israel. on the
other hand, would lose its
electronic control.
The surrender of the
passes to the Egyptian
Army would prolong the
Israeli defense line to 400
kilometers and deprive it
of favorable topographic
positions. Consequently,
there would be need to
maintain a very large
number of military units
and keep large reserve
forces mobilized.
Another advantage to the
Egyptians, if they should
take over the passes and the
hillcrests, is the fact that
the whole of the region west
of the hills, is flat terrain so
that all movements are ob-
servable from the hillcrests.
From the summit of Jebel
Raha, one of these crests,
for example, it is possible to
see the clouds of dust raised
by Israeli tanks as far as 80
kilometers away.