Soviet Arming of Arabs Prompted U.S. Sale of Jets to Israel

Large scale Soviet arms sales to Egypt and Syrian-Israel’s most dangerous neighbors — had convinced the United States that, to leave Israel without adequate defenses, would tend to encourage the Arab neighboring states to start a “second round” against the Jewish State.

This was considered here today as the motive behind the announcement this weekend of an agreement by the United States to sell “tactical” military aircraft to Israel. Robert McCloskey, State Department spokesman, told newsmen that the decision to sell a limited number of tactical aircraft to Israel reflected “our due consideration for security” in the Middle East. He said that the U.S. intention was “to avoid a serious arms imbalance that would jeopardize stability.”

The State Department official did not specify the model or number of the planes to be provided to Israel. However the planes were identified as older models of the A-4 Skyhawk, a mainstay of the U.S. Navy’s carrier striking force in Vietnam. It is believed that attack bombers capable of striking at Arab bases would provide a needed deterrent against use by the Arab rulers of the advanced Russian MIG-21’s being supplied by Moscow to Egypt and Syria.

Recalling the general U.S. “restraint” concerning military equipment supply to the Middle East, Mr. McCloskey told reporters of the “continued, massive Soviet sales of arms to certain countries in the Middle East, which have tended to intensify the arms imbalance.” He added that there was no connection between the sale of the jet craft to Israel and similar sales to Jordan and Saudia Arabia.

He said that the Israeli transaction grew out of legitimate defense needs of Israel. He said that the conditions governing the sale to Israel were the usual commitments under United States laws pertaining to assurances that arms will not be used aggressively or transferred to a third party.