U.S. Hints Israel Expected to Be More Flexible in Talks with Arab States in Return for More Planes

The disclosure today that the United States will supply Israel with four more squadrons of jet fighter bombers and attack planes–deliveries to begin in Jan. 1974–was coupled with the first visible hint that the U.S. expects Israel to adopt more flexible positions in negotiations with the Arab states.

For the first time since Premier Golda Meir’s meeting with President Nixon on March 1 it was stated authoritatively that the U.S. has agreed to sell Israel about 24 more F-4 Phantoms and the same number of A-4 Skyhawk light attack planes with deliveries extending over a two-year period.

It was also disclosed, in information to the New York Times by State Department and Defense Department officials, that the U.S. will provide Israel with technical assistance to begin the manufacture of its own jet fighters, based on the French Mirage fighter series but powered by the same engine as the Phantom F-4.

American officials reportedly said the additional supplies of American war planes were aimed at keeping Israel in pace with Egypt and Syria which have been receiving Soviet aircraft and to replace Israel’s losses through combat or training accidents. Officials also stressed that the deliveries were symbolic of America’s determination to maintain the balance of military power in the Middle East, the Times report said.

SLOWER RATE OF DELIVERY

The new commitments for Phantoms and Sky-hawks insure a continuing supply but at a slower rate of delivery than the current program being carried out under commitments made by Nixon in Dec. 1971, and with lower totals. The last Phantoms under the current program will be delivered in Dec. and the last Skyhawks next June.

The commitments were said to have been made by Nixon at his meeting with Mrs. Meir. U.S. officials said they hoped these commitments would help persuade Israel to take more flexible positions in negotiations toward at least a partial settlement of its conflicts with Egypt and Jordan, according to the Times. One official was quoted as saying that “As the Israelis become increasingly confident that their relative military strength will be preserved, they should be willing to take a few more risks in negotiating a peace settlement.”

The coupling of remarks on flexibility by unidentified but apparently highly placed officials, with the disclosure, through a major newspaper, that the U.S. will continue its delivery of war planes to Israel after the current schedule of deliveries is completed, was seen by observers here as a public signal to Israel that the U.S. expects some reciprocal action from Jerusalem. Whether such hints were given privately to Mrs. Meir in her talks with Nixon and other top U.S. officials is not known.

Prior to Premier Meir’s meeting with Nixon, sources here said that the main purpose of her visit to Washington was to obtain between $515-$550 million in U.S. aid for the coming fiscal year, including $300 million worth of military credits for the purchase of fighter bombers and helicopter gun ships.