Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-04-14
BY FRANK GERvAsI

EILAT, Israel-David Ben-Guri-
on was looking far beyond de-
struction of Egypt's Sinai armies
ana elimination of the fedayeen
threat when he unleashed Israels
defense forces last October. The
GAIA Strip and Sharm ell Sheikh
were important means to a far
more important end: The security
Of the Negev.
Say Negev to 1.-The Little Lion"
and his eyes kindle. For he knows
that in this gradually greening
wedge of desert lies half of Israel's
land area and very nearly all of
its hopes of ever becoming any,
thing more than a heavily sub
sidized Jewish homeland.
For that part Of Israel lying
north Of Beersheba and reaching
up to Dan is rapidly becoming over
crowded. 1t is where most of the
country's nearly 2 million people.
among them more than 100000
Arabs, live. 1t is just about as in
tensively farmed as 1t can be and
while there is still room up there
in the long, narrow--and vulnerable
handle" for industrial expan-
sion, the raw materials are all in
the south and the Negev -.
g. The cradle of our people,"
as Mr.. Ben-Gurion reminds you.
'our country's weak points and
danger zones and also our greatest
hope"
The hope" of the Negev can be
measured in the fabulous mineral
wealth of the. Dead Sea which the
ancient Hebrews called, simply, the
Salt Sea and which today's Israehs
have Enthusiastically renamed the
Sea of Life. 1t is known to con-
tain 20 billion tons of magnesium
chloride. 10 billion tons of sodium
chloride, 6 billion tons of calcium
chloride. at least billion tons of
magnesium bromide and billions of
tons of other minerals and chem
icals that are the raw materials of
modern industry. 1t even has gold.
though probably not in commercial
quantities
Rich Mineral Deposits
What the Negev holds for Israels
economic future can also be meas
ured in the deposits of phosphates,
iron. copper, magnesium. gypsum.
marble granite. refractory sands
for glass making and the stuff of
atomic power-uranium. Within
the quasiequilateral triangle whose
apex lies here at Eilat, Jewish en-
gineers have found oil and, most
precious of all. water. Not enough
of either. it is true, TO meet the
needs of a growing nation. but
enough to begin the task of reyers-
ing the prophecy of jeremiah that
"the cities of the Negev shall be
closed up and none shall open
them"
Lastly. the Negev represents room
for a growing population and
wherein to settle the tens of thou
sands of sstateless Jews who con-
tinue to come every year, some with
the promises Of the prophets ring
ing in their ears, others simply
because no other nation will have
them. This year from 100000 TO
10000 new immigrants must be
absorbed by Israel.
From the air you can see the
advancing green wave of regen-
Grated farmland and the desert
yielding reluctantly to toll and
water. Not all Of the desert will
yield. Much of the Negev LOOKS
from your plane like the Stag heap
of creation, where nature dumped
what was left after making the
world.
But in the leftovers. the Jews
have searched and found. as the
Bible itself often told them that
they would. the raw stuff of new
civilization in the Middle East.
Since the establishment of the
Hebrew state in 1913, to date, nearly
81 billion has gone into the de-
velopment of the nations agri-
cultural and industrial resources.
OF that sum, most of it contributed
by American Jews through the
United Jewish Appeal and the pur-
chase of Israel Development Bonds
some $500 million has been poured
into the Negev alone during the
last four or five years.
The Negev is much more than
an area for Israeli agricultural and