The terror attacks on Sept. 11 and extreme turmoil in the Middle East point to one thing - World War III, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Friday during a visit to Tucson.
"We've been fighting a war for the past 18 months, which is the harbinger of World War III. The world is going to fight, whether they like it or not. I'm sure,'' Ra'anan Gissin, a senior adviser to Sharon, said in an interview Friday.
"Sept. 11 was a watershed event, and things will never be the same. The battle lines have been drawn.''
Gissin, 53, is in Tucson this weekend as part of a 12-day tour of the United States to promote the purchase of Israel Bonds. The bonds are part of a program that began in 1951 in which securities are sold to individuals and corporations to finance economic growth in Israel.
"The Israeli government pays them back. . . . The collateral is the eternity of the Jewish people,'' Gissin said, dismissing an April 1 Newsweek story that questioned the future of his country.
"We believe the state of Israel will continue to exist forever. Therefore, it's a sure investment."
On Friday night he spoke to an audience of about 300 people at the Reform Temple Emanu-El, 225 N. Country Club Road, as police stood on guard at the doorways of the synagogue. Today at 5 p.m. he is scheduled to speak at the conservative Congregation Anshei Israel, 5550 E. Fifth St.
Gissin called the war a clash between the civilized and uncivilized worlds.
"It's a clash between the forces of evil, as (President Bush) so neatly described it, and forces of life."
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