IDF may sell land to boost defense budget

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A senior General Staff officer
told Haaretz that the Israel
Defense Forces was
considering
vacating three bases in the
center of the country - at
Tzrifin, the Sde Dov Airport
and Kfar Sirkin, near Petah
Tikva - and selling the land.
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According to the proposal, which is still only
under consideration, the land would be sold
next year; and though the bases would be
vacated only two or three years later, the
purchasers would have to make large down
payments on the spot.

In the past, various businessmen have
expressed
considerable interest in these properties, and
the IDF thus hopes that it could raise hundreds
of millions of shekels by selling them.

But army sources said that even if this plan was
carried out, the additional money would not
eliminate the need for major cutbacks. It would
merely give the IDF a year of grace in which to
better prepare for the cuts, which would then
be implemented in 2005.

Haaretz

[Tinoire]

1. Who are they going to sell it to?

The Palestinians?

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2. There do seem to be a few loose ends.