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from page 10
post to the proposed VOA
site, about a mile away, is
Moshav Idan, a 10-year-old
farming collective. Twenty-
five families live there.
Their view to the east is of
the Edom Mountains, and to
the west, the mountain
ridges of the Negev.
"Opening my front door and
seeing 400-foot-high
transmitters isn't going to
do a lot for me," said moshav
resident Peter Anderson. All
25 families of the moshav
have pledged to leave if the
station is built.
Administrators and
teachers of the area's main
public school, with 600
students, have protested
that the rerouted Air Force
jets will be streaking right
over their heads. The 2,500
residents of the eight
moshavim in the area fear
that radiation from the VOA
antennas will expose them
to a high risk of cancer.
The SPNI, backed by the
Sierra Club, the Audubon
Society and other envi-
ronmental groups, claims
that the antennas will also
endanger hundreds of mill-
ions of migratory birds that
fly over the Arava in spring
and fall. And since 85 per-
cent of the Negev is used as
military training bases,
VOA opponents say Israel
cannot afford to give any of
the little that's left to the
Americans.
But Israel has agreed to
host the station. Elbit, one of
Israel's leading defense con-
tractors, has a $180 million
contract with the U.S. to
build it. About 600 people
would be employed during
the three-year construction
phase, and nearly 100 more
would get permanent jobs,
Elbit argues.
Israel's national planning
council, which has veto
power over the station, has
turned down every objection.
The Supreme Court rejected
the claims about radiation
danger, but delayed the start
of the project's construction
by ordering an independent
study of the effects on the
birds, which is due in
November. The planning
council will have to consider
this study, but is expected
afterward to once again ap-
prove the project.
Reuven Yeredor, who
heads the agency overseeing
the project for the Israeli
government, says, "As far as
I know, all the claims about
environmental damage have
no basis, and the claims that
do have some basis can be
attended to.
"This is the most envi-
ronmentally friendly project
that could be built," he con-
tinued. "It produces no:L-2
smoke or air pollution, no
water pollution, and no
nuclear waste."
The radiation emitted by
the antennas "would, in a
worst-case scenario, be ten
times lower than the limit,
set by the World Health
Organization, which is the if,
toughest radiation standard
in the world," Mr. Yeredor
added. "I told the people in
Moshav Idan that if they <
planned to move to a place b
with less radiation, they
wouldn't find one in any J
populated area in the
western world."
On the political front, the
Bush Administration in-
dicated in August that it _I
remains committed to
building the station, saying
that VOA, Radio Free
Europe and Radio Liberty
are a "beacon of hope that
must continue to shine."
Prime Minister Yitzhak
Rabin also wants the project --
to go ahead. Environment
Minister Ora Namir backs
the project, noting the jobs it
will create, and that the en-
VOA opponents
say Israel cannot
afford to give any
of the little that's
left to the
Americans.
vironmental consequences
"will be minimal, if any."
However, Israel's, two
previous environment min-
isters have come out against
the project. So have 64 of the
Knesset's 120 members,
from virtually every polit-
ical party, who said in a re-
cent letter to Prime Minister
Rabin that "a broad range of
the Israeli public has dem-
onstrated strong opposition
to building this huge, un-
necessary project."
Some of Israel's best
friends in Congress — in-
cluding Sen. Robert Kasten,
Rep. Stephen Solarz and
Rep. Mel Levine — have also
opposed building the
transmitter.
Moshav Idan's Peter
Anderson suggested a solu-
tion: "I think if the Ameri-
cans asked Uzbekistan nice-
ly, and gave them a bit of
money, they could build the
VOA there."
❑