ter, Ehud Barak, said at a conference
last week that examined the failures of
the July 2000 Camp David summit.
The land between the river and the
sea can "either be a Jewish state or a
democracy," Barak said. If Israel
annexes the West Bank and Gaza Strip
and the Palestinians are not given the
vote, he said, "then Israel will be an
apartheid state."
In his 90-minute speech, Barak
slammed the current Israeli govern-
ment for dragging its feet in building
the wall. He said had the wall been
built sooner — plans for the fence
were explored as early as 1994, under
Prime- Minister Yitzhak Rabin — then
an additional "500 people could have
been walking among us today."
Dozens of local Israeli leaders whose
communities are situated close to the
Green Line have been making the
same argument. Some, like Danny
Atar of the Gilboa Regional Council,
have said the Sharon government's
delays in building the fence constitute
criminal negligence.
Defense Ministry sources contend
that the fence's construction is a
Herculean task. "It's like building a
superhighway on tough terrain under
constant attack," said Netzach
Mashiach, the Defense Ministry's proj-
ect manager of the Seam Line
Construction.
Over the past 11 months and
despite a bitterly cold and wet winter,
Defense Ministry officials said, con-
tractors have excavated 15 million tons
of earth, replaced it with millions of
tons of gravel, sand and concrete and
laid the groundwork for a "dead zone"
stretching 65 yards on either side of
the fence.
Besides the millions of dollars worth
of electronic equipment required to
monitor movement along the fence,
the ministry is to install 310,000
square yards of metal fencing and
1,000 miles of barbed wire.
Military sources interviewed at the
site of last week's terrorist shooting
said the project has been hampered by
frequent Palestinian sabotage. "We lay
down a stretch of 100 meters of fenc-
ing and they steal or destroy 50 of it,"
one source said.
Looters also have been stealing
everything that is not bolted down —
and much that is, they added.
Mashiach says a fence is only as
good as the forces that monitor it and
the intelligence units that provide the
Israeli army with alerts. "Every obsta-
cle can be infiltrated if it is not prop-
ISRAEL on page 18
Together.
One Community.
Going to Israel.
JOIN THE 368 PEOPLE WHO HAVE SIGNED UP ALREADY!
These congregations and community organizations,
as well as hundreds of people, are going on the Mission.
Agudas Yisroel-Mogen Abraham
Jewish Community Center
AI PAC
Jewish Community Council
04 18.04
Alliance for Jewish Education
American Jewish Committee
Anti-Defamation League
Congregation Adat Shalom
Jewish Federation
of Washtenaw County
Kadima
Congregation Beth Ahm
It's a go!
Congregation Beth . Shalom
Keter Torah Synagogue
Temple Beth El
Congregation B'nai Moshe
.
Jewish Federation
of Metropolitan Detroit
Temple Israel
Congregation Shaarey Zedek
FEDERATION'S
Congregation Shir Tikvah
MICHIGAN
MIRACLE
Fresh Air Society
Hadassah
Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue
MISSION
JARC
Temple Shir Shalom
The Birmingham Temple
Young Israel of Oak Park
Young Israel of Southfield
■ II= April 18-28, 2004
Jewish Apartments and Services
Temple Kol Ami
(list in formation)
$2,745*
per person
good only until June 30, 2003
For the Israel trip you've been promising yourself,
call Sally Krugel, Mission Director, (248) 203-1485 or krugel@jfmd.org
Peter Alter Richard Krugel
Scott Kaufman Lisa Lis Beverly Liss John Marx
Chairs
Associate Chairs
DUISOIT JEW= NEWS
'TN
The Michigan aunt at -Rabbis
Co-sponsored by:
ISRAR Rttp,%
4
0 ru,
'Includes $150 per person discount if Confirmed Trip Deposit is paid by 6/30/03. Full price is $2,895.
This is Federation
Visit us online: www.thisisfederation.org
F
6/27
2003
17