Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Speech on Eilat Day - 56 Years since the
Raising of the Ink Flag

www.pmo.gov.il/PMOEng/Communication/PMSpeaks/speech200305.htm

20 March 2005

I am happy to be here today to mark 56 years since the raising of the ink
flag on the shores of Eilat. This act marked the joining of the Negev and
this beautiful place to the State of Israel.

Less than a year before the raising of the ink flag, in one of the most
difficult moments of the War of Independence, a delegation of Negev
kibbutzim came to Tel Aviv to meet with Ben Gurion (I have already told this
story on another occasion, but good stories can be repeated). The people of
the Negev were concerned by the rumor that due to the invasion of the
Egyptian army and due to the almost desperate situation of the settlements
in the south of the country, the Government was planning to give up on the
Negev. Ben Gurion was busy and could not meet with them, but he wrote them a
letter. In that letter he wrote that he did not know what would become of
the Negev, but he knew what should become of it, and what should become of
it is that, within a year, we would build a port in Eilat.

The people of the kibbutzim thought that Ben Gurion had lost his mind. The
Negev kibbutzim barely survived, and he was talking about a port in Eilat,
which was then "beyond the Dark Mountains". However, in less than a year,
Bren, a member of the Negev Brigade, raised the ink flag - and Eilat was
presented as a gift to the fledgling State of Israel.

(I am not sure if Bren is here today, but we can imagine him here, climbing
on the flagpole.)

Ben Gurion first reached the shores of Eilat in 1934, and already then he
tried to mobilize the United States Jewry to invest in the place. Even then,
it was clear to him that Eilat would hold great significance for the future
Jewish State. For Ben Gurion was a man of vision. As a man of vision, he
settled in Sde Boker, in the heart of the Negev, and called on the Israeli
youth to follow. Only a few did so. Development of the Negev remained merely
a slogan, to which one paid lip service, but little was done to implement
it.

For decades development of the Negev was talked of in terms of a far and
indeterminate future. Not any more. My Government has treated the
development of Negev in terms of a national mission of the greatest
significance. We perceive it as an urgent, immediate necessity, which must
be dealt with, without delay.

Eilat has made tremendous progress during the past 56 years - from 3
deserted clay huts of the Um Rashrash police, it has become a city of 57,000
inhabitants - Israel's leading tourist attraction, and a well-known
destination on the global tourism map.

However, Eilat's future still awaits it - I attach great strategic
importance to Eilat and we are designating it a central role in our
development plans, not only in the field of tourism. The extent of planned
investment in infrastructure development in the Negev is unprecedented, and
mostly in Eilat. Among these is the construction of a new international
airport north of Timna, and the railroad to Eilat, the planning of which has
already begun. Eilat is the natural gateway for Israeli export to the
burgeoning markets of Asia, and primarilly India and China, two economies
with a particularly high growth rate. In order to continue to encourage the
development of Eilat, we will continue to give it the relief it receives as
a free trade zone, including exemption from VAT collection.

The peace agreement with the Kingdom of Jordan created opportunities for
cooperation between the city of Eilat and its neighbor Aqaba. We hope that
in the near future we will be able to take advantage of these possibilities
and transform them into joint economic and commercial projects.

The development of Eilat is only one of the goals on a long list of plans
meant to propel the Negev - at long last - to its proper place on the map of
the country. We are making tremendous investments in the fields of
infrastructure, railroads and roads. We are working to develop the existing
Bedouin settlements and build eight new settlements - two of which are
already under construction - while at the same time settling the issue of
lands and uncompromisingly enforcing the law. In addition, we are
transferring IDF camps and security installations from the center of the
country to the Negev.

I believe we are at the dawn of a new era regarding the development of the
Negev. In the near future, we will begin to enjoy the benefits of these
plans, which, in their daring are equal the raising of the ink flag 56 years
ago.

When the soldiers of the Negev Brigade raised the ink flag, they saw on the
horizon only a blue sea, dark mountains and yellow sands and desolate
beaches of locked borders.

The liberation of Eilat was a part of an operation which was meant to
determine Israel's eastern border and its southern end. Three brigades
participated in the liberation: the Negev Brigade, which arrived first, the
Golani Brigade, which arrived a few hours later, and the Alexandroni
Brigade, which was charged with the task of taking over the Ein-Gedi and
Dead Sea area - an action which was primarily carried out from the sea.

Today, after 56 years, with the increased pace of development and
realization of the Eilat and Negev vision, and the political developments in
our region, we can look forward again with new hope and envision Eilat as a
regional and international tourist and trade center. It is no longer
surrounded by shores of desolation and borders of hatred, but rather beaches
of hope - from the Jordanian border, from the Egyptian border, and in the
future hopefully also from the Saudi border. I believe that if we continue
on the path on which we began, "from the South and from Eilat the prosperity
will be unleashed".

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to thank the residents of Eilat, the members of the city
council and the mayor, for the Honorary Citizenship which you bestowed on
me. I certainly intend to continue working for the continued development of
Eilat and for the development and future of the entire Negev.

Thank you.