The status of Israel’s long pending request to buy more Phantom and Sky hawk jets from the United States was the main topic of discussion at today’s Cabinet meeting. The session was attended by Gen. Yitzhak Rabin, Israel’s Ambassador to Washington, who was called home for consultations suddenly on Thursday and arrived here Friday morning. There was no indication of what transpired at the Cabinet meeting except that Gen. Rabin reported on the state of American-Israeli relations. But the newspaper Haaretz carried a report, unconfirmed by any other sources, that President Nixon has refused outright to sell more Phantoms to Israel at this time.
According to Haaretz, the White House informed the Israeli Embassy in Washington that the negative decision was based on military grounds–specifically that in America’s view, Israeli air superiority over the Arabs is assured for the next few years and therefore additional Phantoms are not needed at this time. There was no confirmation of this report from official quarters. But the sudden recall of Ambassador Rabin–after the Foreign Ministry denied emphatically last week that he was being called home –lent credence to rumors that something was amiss with the Phantom deal. Before attending today’s Cabinet session, Gen. Rabin had lengthy meetings with Premier Golda Meir, Foreign Minister Abba Eban and Defense Minister Moshe Dayan.
GENERAL FEELING IS THAT NIXON WILL SUPPLY JETS BUT NOT COMMIT U.S. TO SPECIFIC NUMBER
Most observers here were not inclined to accept military grounds as the basis for a Nixon decision. They placed more credence in reports in American newspapers that the President would make a non-committal announcement, not refusing the jets but not committing the U.S. to the sale of a specified number at an announced date. They expect the White House to say that the U.S. would continue to watch the arms balance in the Mideast and would redress it when necessary. On Jan. 30, President Nixon promised at a press conference to announce his decision on Israel’s request for more Phantoms within 30 days. That deadline passed almost two weeks ago with no announcement from the White House. But administration sources indicated over the week-end that a statement would be issued later this week.
Observers here have linked the delay to the recent announcement that bilateral U.S. – Soviet talks on the Mideast would soon be resumed. The Soviet Union is believed to have adopted a more conciliatory stand on the peace proposals outlined by Secretary of State William P. Rogers last Dec. 9. Sources here said President Nixon wanted to avoid an announcement on the Phantoms at a time when the Soviets may be more amenable to compromise. The Rogers plan originally elicited no positive response from Moscow although it was bitterly rejected by Israel.
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