Israel has been receiving a “continuous flow” of weapons from the United States during the fighting on the Golan Heights, Jerry Friedheim, the Defense Department spokesman, said today. He gave that answer in response to a newsman’s question on whether the United States has been shipping arms to Israel in the last few weeks but refused to indicate the nature of the weapons.
Friedheim did say that Israelis had indicated they wanted Shrike air-to-ground missiles to knock out anti-aircraft sites. He also said that while there have been steady arms shipments to Israel since the end of the Yom Kippur War, deliveries had not been increased since the Syrians began their daily shooting along the Israeli-Syrian cease-fire line a month ago.
Meanwhile, it was reported from Riyadh that the United States has agreed to re-equip and to start training Saudi Arabia’s fastest growing military force, its National Guard. The National Guard is comprised of 50,000 Bedouin troops, who are garrisoned in Saudi Arabia’s main cities while the 40,000-man regular army is stationed away from the population centers. Among other duties, National Guard units are stationed at the country’s major off-producing centers. Saudi Arabian officials reportedly are concerned about the threat of Palestinian strikes against American oil installations.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
