Israel Concerned That Iraqi Air Force Will Pose a Serious Threat to Israel Once the War with Iran is

Israel is increasingly concerned that the battle-hardened Iraqi air force will pose a serious threat once Iraq’s war with Iran is ended.

Israel Air Force Commander Gen. Amos Lapidot told a group of foreign military attaches Tuesday that Iraqi pilots are currently flying “hundreds of sorties per day.” He said Israeli and outside observers have discerned a significant improvement in the quality of Iraqi air power.

Their planes attack at much lower levels than before and their bombing and ground support is more accurate, he said. Though some outside observers maintain that foreign, mainly Pakistani, pilots are flying for Iraq, there is no confirmation of such reports.

Lapidot said the improved capabilities of the Iraqi air force would enable it to fly sorties against Israel in a future war from Iraqi territory without the need for bases in Jordan or Syria.

The Iran-Iraq war is now in its seventh year. While Iran, with much greater manpower, appears at the moment to have the edge on the ground, Iraqi air power is considered superior to Iran’s by most experts here and abroad.

According to foreign sources, however, the advanced anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapons sold to Iran covertly by the U.S. and Israel, has been able to blunt Iraq’s superior air force and armor.

PERES DEFENDS U.S.-IRAN ARMS DEAL

Meanwhile, Vice Premier and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres strongly defended Israel’s role in the U.S.-Iran arms deal, at a press conference in Jerusalem Tuesday. He maintained that it was less of an arms deal than mutual probing for “pragmatist” elements in Iran who might one day succeed the aging Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, an avowed enemy of Israel and the West.

It was “a window of opportunity,” Peres said, adding that there was nothing wrong with exploring the possibility of a more friendly Iran in the future.

Peres also insisted that the value of arms shipped to Iran in 1985 did not exceed $5 million to $6 million, a drop in the bucket compared to the $400 billion Iran has spent in its war with Iraq over the last six years.

Peres reiterated that Israel agreed to facilitate the American arms shipments to help secure the release of American hostages held by pro-Iranian elements in Lebanon.

Peres leaves for Europe Wednesday for meetings with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, President Francois Mitterrand of France and with the Foreign Ministers of the European Economic Community (EEC) in Brussels.

At his briefing for foreign military attaches, Lapidot also spoke of the potential menace of the Syrian air force which is expected soon to absorb Soviet MIG-29 combat aircraft. He said Israel is studying the capabilities of the MIG-29s in order to develop counter-measures. He said Syria’s antiaircraft defenses have not limited Israel’s freedom of movement in the skies over Lebanon, but the Israel Air Force now has to be “more careful than in the past.”