The agreement will allow Israel to participate in European projects and submit proposals for joint programs. At the same time, the process of accepting Israel as a full member of the European Space Agency will continue
19.6.2003
By: Avi Blizovsky
Israel was admitted to the European Space Agency as a participating member. This is what Science Minister Modi Zandberg and the agency's new president, Jean-Jacques Durdin, concluded. The director of the Israel Space Agency, Avi Har Even, also participated in the signing ceremony, which took place yesterday in Paris. This is what Haaretz newspaper reports this morning.
The agreement will allow Israel to participate in European projects and submit proposals for joint programs. At the same time, the process of accepting Israel as a full member of the European Space Agency will continue. This process is slow because it requires the agreement of 15 EU countries. The website of the Ministry of Science states that the agreement will enable the supply of space subsystems made in Israel to the European space program. This is the first time that the European Space Agency has agreed to discuss the integration of Israel within its framework.
The head of the space administration at the Ministry of Defense, Brigadier General (Res.) Prof. Haim Ashad, told "Haaretz" that within three to five years Israel will begin its real breakthrough in space. According to him, "for us it is a matter of life or death". In his first interview with the American aviation weekly "Aviation Week", Prof. Ashad reveals that Israel is exploring ways to protect the information in its possession by developing capabilities that will disrupt the activity of spy satellites of hostile countries. Ashad: "We have not reached this stage yet. But we are thinking about it. There is visible information that is vulnerable. The possibility of guerrilla warfare or pirate warfare in space must be taken into account in the most serious way." The weekly reveals that the Israeli Ministry of Defense formulated a strategy for the development of micro, mini-satellites and even smaller satellites (nano-satellites).
The interview with Ashad appears in a series of large articles published this week by the American weekly about Israeli military technologies, and about the breakthroughs of the Israeli defense industries in the development of missiles, unmanned aircraft, measures to protect passenger aircraft and the Israeli space programs.
France: Add Israel to the European Space Agency
19.6.2001
By: Amnon Barzilai
France announced that it supports Israel's joining the European Union's Space Agency (ESA) as an associate member - this is what the director of the French Space Agency, Alain Ben Shoshan, said yesterday to the Minister of Science, Culture and Sports, Matan Vilnai, and the Director of the Israel Space Agency, Avi Har Even, who were visiting the Salon The aerial at La Bourgeois in Paris. Ben Shoshan also serves as chairman of the board of directors of the European Union Space Agency.
France's support for Israel joining the European Union's space agency opens up new possibilities for the Israeli space industry. The offer to Israel is an expression of the European recognition of the technologies developed in Israel mainly in the field of miniaturized satellites. The main problem with Israel's annexation is the need for a decision to be accepted unanimously by all 15 member states of the European Union.
