World: A Sense of Betrayal

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In the northern settlements Israel's pioneers were encouraged to invest their own money. One who did was Eliezer Shmuel, 31. He fought in Sinai with the army during the 1973 October War and returned to invest $17,000 in a seaside restaurant. Now Shmuel hopes bravely that "the people who brought me here will take care of me." But in the barren, hard-baked south, between a range of sawtooth mountains and the clearwater, coral-reefed Gulf of Aqaba, the government retained ownership of the land. In Ofira (pop. 1,000), residents enjoy subsidized rents that average $40 a month along with more generous income tax deductions than other Israelis receive. Evacuation ought to be financially easier for many southerners, but they are as bitter about it as Israelis in the north. Says Shimon Eluz, 35, a painting contractor who settled near Sharm el Sheikh because he loved skin diving in the deep-blue waters: "It seems to me that Israel paid a high price for the chance to get peace. Why should we give up all of Sinai? God forbid, Sadat can take back everything and then stab a knife in our backs."

A handful of Israelis speak optimistically of continuing to live within Israeli enclaves in Sinai even after Egypt regains sovereignty. Most of the settlers, however, doubt that the negotiations will allow for so amicable a resolution of their situation. "I don't believe there will ever be peace with the Arabs," says one settler. "It's a religious problem, after all, not a territorial or border problem."