Israel exercised deliberate restraint last week when it retaliated against Egypt for shooting down an unarmed military transport over the Sinai on Sept. 17. Chief of Staff Haim Barlev said on a televised interview Friday night. “We could have hit the Egyptians hard in many spheres, striking at both the missile and other targets but we did not wish to extend the operation to such an extent that would necessarily lead to a resumption of the fighting,” Barlev said. He confirmed reports that Israel possessed American-made Shrike air-to-ground missiles but would not say whether they were employed in the retaliatory strike.
Barlev said Israel’s counter-measures after the transport, a propellor-driven Boeing Strato-cruiser, was downed by Egyptian missiles killing seven of its eight crew-members, were intended to make it clear to Egypt that Israel would not acquiesce in any violations of the cease-fire. He said that if full-scale fighting were to break out on the Suez front, the action would not be restricted to missiles against missiles or missiles against aircraft, implying that ground action could be expected.
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