— The Reagan Administration continued today its attempt to convince Israel and its friends in the United States that the sale of AWACS electronic reconnaissance planes would not result in a “realistic threat to Israel.” Meanwhile, the proposed sale was strongly attacked today by the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Charles Manatt, who charged it would bring the Mideast “one step closer to war.”
The attempted reassurances came in the form of a statement read by State Department spokesman Dean Fischer. He listed the reasons why the AWACS would not threaten Israel as:
“AWACS will be used primarily to protect Saudi oilfields; essentially (it) is a flying radar platform which can detect and follow movement of airborne aircraft; it cannot detect militarily significant ground activity, and it will have no radio monitoring, photo reconnaissance or intelligence gathering capabilities; it could not be used with combat aircraft of other countries without extensive job training and U.S. supplied computer and communications equipment; Saudi AWACS operations will depend on U.S. spare parts, maintenance and support of operations; and an AWACS aircraft flying close enough to Israel to monitor its aircraft would be vulnerable to being shot down by Israeli fighter aircraft.”
The statement concluded that “obviously prudent Israeli planners would have to take Saudi AWACS into account in their calculation. But the overwhelming impact of the sale will be to enhance Saudi defensive capabilities–not to threaten Israel.”
URGES SOPHISTICATED DIPLOMACY, NO WEAPONRY
The attack on the proposed sale come during a blast at the Reagan’s Administration’s first 100 days in office by Manatt to the Women’s National Democratic Club here.
“What is needed in the Middle East is not more highly sophisticated weaponry, but more highly sophisticated diplomacy in the tradition of the Comp David accords, “he said. “The Reagan Administration, and the Pentagon, ought not to bow to demands of the Saudis by providing them with offensive arms which substantially endanger Israeli security as well as American interests.”
Manatt charged that it “is not only dangerous, but unnecessary to sell the Saudis such sophisticated equipment,” since the U.S. can continue the present system of owning and operating the AWACS. The U.S. has had four AWACS in Saudi Arabia since last September because of the Iranian-Iraqi war. “This serves the best interests of the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Israel without endangering any of them,” Manatt said.
He also said that by giving the Saudis the AWACS, it “forever removes the vital element of secrecy so integral to the defensive strategy of Israel and would seriously erode its ability to defend itself against all of its neighbors who remain hostile.” He said that the Saudis do not need the weapons since, if their oilfields were “seriously threatened, the Saudis would need outside help to defend them.”
Manatt also said that the Democratic Party stands by its 1980 program which “stated our steadfast opposition to the sale of any offensive weapons to any potential or real enemies of Israel.”
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
