Ephraim Evron, Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, told the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations today that Israel was worried about the quantity, quality and dates of delivery of newly announced U.S. arms or Egypt. Presidents Conference members, who attended the off-the-record briefing, said Evron reported that Israel was now giving intensive study to the Egyptian arms package and its effect on Israel’s security.
Without predicting what his government’s official policy would be, Evron expressed concern that the qualitative gap between Israel and Egypt would be narrowed, if not closed, under the terms of the proposed sale of U.S. advanced weapons to Cairo.
He noted that in the past, Israel had American arms while its Arab adversaries were equipped with Soviet weapons and jets. Because the U.S. arms were generally of superior quality, he said, Israel enjoyed a qualitative advantage, even though the Arabs had greater amounts of military equipment. But with the proposal’ to equip Egypt with large amounts of U.S. war materiel. Evron was reported as having said the Israeli advantage would be lost.
Evron voiced particular concern about the U.S. offer to sell Egypt the F-15 fighter bomber, regarded as the most lethal conventional weapon in the American arsenal. Israel is now taking delivery on F-15s it contracted for two years ago. Some of Israel’s F-15s had been destined to Iran under the Shah. When the Khomeini regime took power and cancelled the arms deal, the planes were offered to Israel.
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.
