Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin was due to arrive in Washington Tuesday to seek further clarification of the American position on the Lavi jet fighter plane project in discussions with Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger and Secretary of State George Shultz.
Rabin said Monday he hoped to hear from them about continued support for the project or, possible, financial compensation in the event Israel cancels it.
But U.S. Ambassador Thomas Pickering said Tuesday that the U.S. would not grant Israel aid beyond the present $1.8 billion allocation as incentive to terminate the Lavi project. Compensation to the various firms affected would have to come out of present grants, he said.
“We have told the government of Israel that we would be prepared to see the foreign military sales money — up to $1.8 billion — made available to handle termination costs, particularly termination costs with respect to contracts we have approved, which I think covers most, if not all, of the Lavi contracts,” the envoy said.
SAYS FUNDS NEEDED
Rabin told Israel Radio that the Israel Defense Force would require another $200-$220 million a year to cover the projected cost increases of the Lavi should the project continue. Israel can not afford to continue it under present circumstances, he said.
He said regardless of what emerges from his discussions in the U.S., “It will take five or six years until we see the first operational squadron” of Lavis, Israel’s second generation jet fighter.
The Defense Minister’s decision to go to the U.S. for further talks on the Lavi was unexpected. The government, which has held five Cabinet sessions to date devoted to the Lavi, has yet to decide its future.
Rabin said, “I won’t elaborate on what I intend to clarify in the U.S., but I do intend, in the light of several pertinent questions put by a number of ministers regarding the implications of continuing to develop the Lavi, vis-a-vis a possible alternative… to clarify the attitude of the U.S. and examine what will become of the IDF’s various needs, as well as the employment significance in terms of the defense industries.”
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