Professors for a Strong Israel
Statement to the Press - 30 July 2002
Re: Cutting the budget painlessly
In these days of war and of economic crisis, it is yet possible to find places where money can be saved without inflicting pain. For example:
- We can and must cancel construction of the wall along the Green Line, which is to serve narrow political interests and the business interests of certain contractors, but will make no real contribution to national security. It will be much cheaper and more effective to wall in the centers of terrorism instead.
- We can and must use the moneys withheld from the Palestinian Terror Authority to fund the war against its terrorism, instead of giving the Authority the money for use in its war against Israel.
- We can and must remove the IDF's bases from the centers of cities, sell off the valuable real estate, and relocate the bases where they will contribute to security rather than offer targets. The outstanding example is the General Staff Headquarters in the heart of Tel Aviv.
- We can and must cut the kibbutz bailout fund and stop the process of handing the kibbutzim state lands at ridiculous prices. The idea of cutting off the towns of Judea, Samaria, and Gaza, who are truly at the front line in the war, is merely Leftist political incitement.
- We can and must cut the budget of a Foreign Ministry that propagandizes for a failed policy that the voter has soundly rejected. A current example is the sending of a delegation of 50, led by Peres, to a United Nations conference on development in South Africa.
Professors for a Strong Israel calls on the Government to do serious house cleaning and, first of all, to cut expenses that contribute nothing to security and in fact do harm to it.
Dr. Ron Breiman, Chairman of PSI
Tel: 050-518 940