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Expert Is Pushing
Push-Button Warfare
NECHEMIA MEYERS
Special to The Jewish News
T
he shortsightedness of
Israel's defense estab-
lishment — which is
preparing to refight old wars
rather than win new ones —
imperils her very survival,
says Weizmann Institute Pro-
fessor Amnon Yogev.
Yogev speaks with some
authority, for he is not only a
highly respected expert on
lasers, but also a colonel in
the reserves with many years
of command experience in the
field. Israel, he argues, cannot
afford to go on trying to com-
pete with the Arabs, when it
comes to tanks, planes and
soldiers. Arab armies, now
larger than those of NATO,
and Arab financial resources
are so much greater than
those of Israel that she is
bound to lose in any such
competition.
Israel should, instead, turn
to the development of
sophisticated, highly accurate
weapons that can neutralize
Arab superiority in men and
conventional arms.
Moreover, Yogev goes on,
these novel weapons must be
the products of Israel's own
labs. If they are simply
bought from a major power,
assuming that such a
possibility exists, they could
be purchased by the Arabs as
well, leaving Israel with no
advantage over her hostile
neighbors.
Yogev points out that
Israel's defense labs, working
in close cooperation with field
commanders, have had
significant achievements in
the past. But, he charges,
they are being allowed to
deteriorate; time after time
local defense planners have
decided, ostensibly for finan-
cial reasons, that advanced
weapons systems should be
purchased rather than
designed and produced.
This is not to say that Yogev
believes that Israel should
produce every weapons
system. It was right to scrap
the Lavi fighter-bomber, he
says, but not because of costs.
It is rather that Israel
shouldn't be squandering her
meager resources on
numerous Lavis (or F-16s, for
that matter). Instead, she
should be developing "Star
Wars" weapons to destroy
enemy forces with pinpoint
accuracy.
Yogev admits that the use of
such weapons in outer space,
as envisioned by U.S. defense
strategists, is still a major
problem. However, in his
view, their employment on
the ground is much less
problematic.
A change to "Star Wars"
weapons also permits a
change in defense strategy.
No longer would Israel have
to employ large masses of
tanks and infantry to
physically confront enemy
forces and seize territory from
the Arabs (which, in any case,
must eventually be returned).
Perceived threats could be
countered by using weapons
at bases within the country
itself.
Israel's present generation
of generals, Yogev charges, re-
ject his approach because it
confronts them with problems
they have no experience in
handling. They are accustom-
ed to bravely leading their
men into battle; they are not
accustomed to what they Z_21-
describe, with considerable
derision, as "push-button"
warfare.
Yet whatever the generals
(and ministers) think, that
form of warfare is coming to
the Middle East and will
determine the outcome of
future conflicts. Therefore,
Israel should prepare for it.
Indeed, she should welcome
"push-button" warfare with
open arms because, Yogev
declares, "for the first time in
her history, it allows Israel to
fully explicit her
technological superiority over
the Arabs."
❑
I NEWS I
Harvard Law
Hears Profs
Boston — Three scholars in
Jewish and Talmudic legal
studies will lecture and teach
at the Harvard Law School
over the next two years.
Justice Menachem Elon of
the Supreme Court of Israel,
Prof. David Daube of the
University of California at
Berkeley School of Law, and
Prof. Bernard Jackson of the
University of Liverpool will
lecture or teach at Harvard.
Computer
Aiding MDA
Tel Aviv — Through the use
of donated computer hard-
ware and software, Magen
David Adorn — Israel's Red
Cross — has been afforded ac-
cess to the nation's first
database for locating donors
of rare blood types in Israel.