The members of the committee toured the facilities of the aerospace industry * "The satellites are the eyes of the state", said the chairman of the aerospace industry Dov Beharev
Press release on behalf of the Space Subcommittee of the Science and Technology Committee
The space subcommittee (of the Knesset's Science and Technology Committee), chaired by MK Ze'ev Elkin, was established about three weeks ago and today held its first significant tour of the space factories of the Aerospace Industry. Knesset members Ronit Tirosh (Chairman of the Science and Technology Committee), Daniel Ben-Simon, Anastasia Michaeli, Robert Tibiev also participated in the tour.
In the discussion that preceded the tour, MK Elkin thanked the chairman of the Science and Technology Committee, MK Ronit Tirosh, for responding to his request to establish the subcommittee on space.
Dov Beharev, chairman of the Aerospace Industry, said that technology is a pillar of the Israeli economy and lamented the erosion of technological education in recent years. He added that the field of space brings about the refinement and potential extraction of the most precise technologies, including in the military field. "The satellites are the eyes of the state," said Beharev. He reviewed before the members of the Knesset the economic strength of the aerospace industry and its main activities in the areas of strategic defense systems, production of mission aircraft and aerial warning as well as satellites and space systems (military satellites, communication satellites and observation satellites). Beharev emphasized that so far over a billion dollars have been invested in the space industry and that this investment is a profitable investment. However, Beharev warned that the global space industry is growing, while Israel's is standing still and may lose its global position if the country does not invest in this industry. He further warned that "if Israel does not win Amos 6, the aerospace industry will be forced to close the production line of the GEO satellites. Baharev concluded by saying that the aerospace industry would like to invest large budgets in communication satellites and that the future of the industry lies in new applications and increased exports up to a sales target of NIS 5 billion. He also said that compared to the State of Israel which does not invest substantially in its space industry, the European Space Agency recently invested 3 billion euros in the space industry in the EU countries.
During the tour, the Knesset members watched the "Venus" satellite designed for agricultural applications and planned to be launched in 2014. The MKs were also exposed to unique test rooms where the satellites are tested for a long period of time (about 7 months) for their resistance to extreme pressure and noise conditions during launch and extreme temperature conditions when placed in space .
At the end of the tour, MK Ronit Tirosh, chairman of the Science and Technology Committee, said that "Israel is perceived, and rightly so, as a leading country in the world in the field of space, similar to superpowers such as the USA and Russia. The Israeli government must budget for the space program and preserve the position of the State of Israel in the international community. Any damage to the space program will set the country back generations and will cause irreversible damage to its security and economy. The Science and Technology Committee will contact the Prime Minister and ask him to take care of the state's support for the space industry.
MK Ze'ev Elkin, chairman of the subcommittee on space, said that "on the tour we met the leading factory in the Israeli space industry. Thanks to the activities of the aerospace industry, the State of Israel is one of the space powers. If the state does not support this industry in a testing moment, it may, within a few years, lose its place as one of the leading countries, and lose a chance for huge profits for the Israeli economy. In the absence of support for the space industry, the country may find that many investments have gone down the drain. This must not happen."
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Y.S. - save such comments for news sites like oynet.co.il
On the contrary, I defended a quote from a person who, because they don't like him, also automatically oppose everything he says, even good morning.
My father, didn't you mean instead of ultra-Orthodox and conservatives to write leftists and heretics???
And besides, why do you have to push your political ideology almost everywhere, you are taking advantage here of something completely irrelevant.
Unlike the ultra-Orthodox and the conservatives, if they don't like someone, anything they say is wrong in their eyes, they should be matter-of-fact. In my opinion, there should be no dispute about the space issue, since retaining employees is a valuable thing. It's easy to lose them and in five years when the finance people scrape the budget, they will already be working elsewhere in the best case, in the worst case - they will be abroad.
The democracy-hating Stalinchik came here too. He should be excluded
The question is what are the alternatives to these investments, and not just what was invested in the past and if it went down the drain.
The question is what is the added value of this research and what is its purpose. Many times they invest in places where there is no added value and without understanding they continue to invest and send more and more precious money down the drain.
We must preserve and improve these important abilities, as above for all fields of science and technology. This is our future and it is also what keeps us strong against all enemies around us, we must not give up on these areas.