Arrival of Patriot Missiles is Welcome News to Israelis

The arrival here Saturday of Patriot anti-missile batteries, along with a team of Americans who can expertly operate them, was welcome news to Israelis, who have been living under the daily threat of missile bombardments from Iraq.

The United States rushed the anti-missile defense weapons and their crews to Israel following two attacks on Israeli cities by Iraqi SCUD missiles.

It is the first time since Israel was founded that foreign military personnel have landed on its soil to participate in its defense.

In addition to the Patriots, the U.S. aircraft carrier Forrestal was reportedly sent to the eastern Mediterranean to help protect Israel from the Iraqi missile threat.

The advent of the unspecified number of missiles came as two senior Bush administration officials arrived to discuss Israeli involvement in the conflict with Iraq, which Saddam Hussein is trying to promote and the United States is still hoping to avoid.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger — on his second visit to Israel this month — and Undersecretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz wound up a day of talks with Israeli leaders here Sunday night, talks described by the Prime Minister’s Office as “friendly” and by the Defense Ministry as “constructive.”

The arrival here of Eagleburger and Wolfowitz coincided with the announcement that the anti-missile defense weapons had been deployed and were operational.

The Patriots and their operating crews arrived aboard U.S. Air Force Galaxy transports from a stockpile in Germany.

The precedent of American participation in Israel’s defense may have prompted Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir to emphasize on television Sunday night that Israel had not abandoned the principle of conducting its own self-defense, which has guided it “ever since the state was established and even before.”

He called for the defensive action to be “strong, smart and well considered.”

ISRAELI RETALIATION NOT RULED OUT

But Shamir apparently has not ruled out Israeli retaliation for the Iraqi missile attacks. He vowed that Israel would “act in the most damaging way” against Iraq.

The high-level U.S. visits proceeded from three “very friendly, heart-to-heart talks with President Bush” Shamir had over the weekend.

The premier said Bush “explained to me very cogently everything that he is doing, and what he expects from us, and what we can expect from him.”

Shamir said the president had designated Eagleburger, second in command at the State Department after Secretary of State James Baker, to be his personal envoy and channel to the Israeli prime minister.

He said his conversations with Eagleburger and his aides related to “cooperation in the present situation and with a view to the future.”

Observers here deduced that the talks had to do with military, political and economic aid projects.

The precise locations of the Patriots were not disclosed, but at least one battery is close to a populated area, to the evident gratification of nearby residents.

Israeli officials said the system — originally designed to be used against aircraft but now enhanced to intercept missiles — could not offer Israel total protection, but was certainly an important addition to the country’s defenses.

Israel purchased two Patriot batteries from the United States. They were delivered two months ago, but the Israeli crews have not completed their training in the United States, which reportedly takes up to a year.

That may be speeded up now that the U.S. crews are here to instruct the Israelis. Israeli defense sources said the U.S. military teams were training personnel to take their place as soon as possible.

Eagleburger and Wolfowitz were taken straight from Ben-Gurion Airport to inspect a crater left by a SCUD in Tel Aviv. Their first business meeting was with Defense Minister Moshe Arens in Tel Aviv.

They drove to Jerusalem afterward to see Shamir and then Foreign Minister David Levy. Israeli officials said the Americans would also meet Finance Minister Yitzhak Moda’i.