American Decision on Arms to Israel Causes Concern That the U.S. May Be Reviving Reassessment Period

An apparent American decision to give Israel less than top priority in arms deliveries has caused concern here because of its political as well as military implications. Foreign Minister Yigal Allon is expected to raise the matter with Secretary of State Cyrus Vance when they meet in London this Wednesday and will try to get the Americans to reverse the decision.

It was discussed in Washington Friday by Israel Ambassador Simcha Dinitz and Assistant Secretary of State Alfred Atherton. Dinitz was quoted as saying that the decision created “a new situation which gave reason for concern.” There has been no official reaction here but political circles speculated today that the U.S. may be reviving its “reassessment period” that followed the initial failure to obtain an interim Sinai agreement in 1975 and was an unpleasant episode in U.S. Israeli relations.

According to military sources, Israel never has received special treatment with respect to weapons deliveries except in the case of the F-15 jets which went to Israel at the same time that they were delivered to the U.S. Air Force. Otherwise, the sources said, Israel has always been second to the NATO countries with respect to arms supplies.

Therefore, the decision to take Israel off the top priority list came as a surprise because President Ford had promised in 1975 that Israel would have the same status as the NATO countries. The new decision may put it in the same category as Egypt, Syria and Jordan with respect to weapons supplies. Dinitz was told, however, that this policy was not final. (See related Cabinet story P.3)

At Friday’s meeting where Atherton informed Dinitz that Israel would not be entitled to preferential treatment in arms supplies, the Israeli envoy was also told that the U.S. would not object if Israel sold its Kfir jet fighters to Austria. An earlier deal to sell Kfirs to Ecuador was vetoed by the U.S. Permission was required because the Kfir is powered by an American engine.

SURPRISED BY PERES’ REACTION TO VANCE

Political circles here are also surprised by the mild reaction of Defense Minister Shimon Peres, who is acting as Premier, to Vance’s press conference statement last week that the U.S. would have “suggestions” to offer on the “core” issues of a Middle East settlement. Rather than the usual expressions of alarm over any hint that the Americans had a settlement plan of their own, Peres welcomed Vance’s statement and gave it the best possible interpretation. He stressed Vance’s assurances that the U.S. has no intention of trying to impose a settlement on the parties to the Mideast conflict.

Obviously, analysts noted, Peres wants to avoid a confrontation with Washington barely a week before Israel’s elections. Nevertheless, there were indications that Israel would do its best to head off any American plan. Prof. Shlomo Avineri director general of the Foreign Ministry, said in a radio interview yesterday that Israel will soon have to draw its own peace map and “then fight for her ideas rather than against someone else’s.”