Abba Eban Says Israel Continues to Urge the U.S. to Correct Mideast Arms Imbalance

Foreign Minister Abba Eban indicated today that Israel was still pressing the United States for more warplanes to correct what it considers an increasingly adverse military balance in the Middle East. Mr. Eban told a news conference that “the balance of armaments today is not the same as on March 23 when Secretary of State Rogers made his interim announcement regarding the sale of planes to Israel.” Mr. Rogers said at the time that a decision on Israel’s request for more Phantom and Sky hawk jets was being held in abeyance because in the American view, Israel still retains decisive air superiority over the Arabs.

Mr. Eban said Israeli representatives are again taking up the matter with other nations, especially the U.S. He said Israel considered the latter bound by President Nixon’s earlier statement that Israel’s military superiority in the Mideast should be ensured. The Israeli Foreign Minister said he did not accept as “reliable” reports from sources abroad that there are 16,000 Soviet personnel now in Egypt. But he acknowledged that the influx of Soviet technicians to Egypt has increased in recent weeks. They are said to be manning the SAM-3 anti-aircraft missiles that Moscow has provided to Egypt.

(Diplomatic sources in London claim that more than 12,000 Russians have poured into Egypt in recent weeks to operate the SAM-3 missiles. The influx has raised to 16,000 the number of Russian personnel presently in Egypt these sources said. They estimate that a small nucleus of Soviet technicians will operate the missiles while others train Egyptians in their operation. But the bulk of the force, perhaps as much as a Soviet infantry division, will be deployed on defensive duties around the SAM missile sites. Four such sites have already been built around Alexandria, Egypt’s main seaport which is used by Russian naval units. Others have gone up around Cairo West airport where Soviet supplies are air lifted and around the Aswan High Dam.)

REPORT THAT SYRIA IS PRESSING SOVIET GOVERNMENT FOR SAM-3 MISSILES

(According to reports from Cairo, the sites are being built at a furious pace, halting Egypt’s private building program so that concrete can be diverted for the missile launcher bases. Russian troops are reportedly instructing Egyptian forces on the battalion level.) An Israeli military commentator said yesterday that he thought reports of 12,000 Soviet technicians in Egypt to be an exaggeration. Gen. Elad Peled, former commander of the National Defense College, said on Jerusalem radio that a force of that size would represent at “complete Soviet intervention” and would permit Egypt to transform its war of attrition against Israel to an offensive war using their air force.

(In London, the Daily Telegraph correspondent Eric Downton writes today from Beirut that Syria is pressing the Soviet government for SAM-3 missiles for the defense of Damascus. He said the Syrians renewed their requests for the anti-aircraft missiles when they learned of their installation in Egypt. They point out to Moscow that Damascus and other main Syrian cities are much closer to Israeli airfields than are Cairo and the main Egyptian centers west of the Suez Canal, Mr. Downton wrote. According to the correspondent, the Syrian Government has had fresh promises from Moscow of more military and economic help. Russian naval activity in Syrian ports has increased during the past two weeks, Mr. Downton wrote, reflecting a new build-up of Soviet naval strength in the eastern Mediterranean. But the Damascus authorities are most anxious for antiaircraft defense missiles because they fear heavy Israeli retaliation for the renewed fighting along the Israel-Syria cease-fire line.)