Israel Govt. Denies Washington Report on Buying Missiles from France

A spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry denied here today that Israel was buying missiles from France, as reported over the weekend in a New York Times report from Washington.

The spokesman said that it is true only that Israeli research institutes are obtaining help from private French firms in the field of scientific missile research. The Washington report was dismissed officially as “without foundation.” The Israeli press charged the report was “obviously inspired” to divert attention from increased United States arms shipments to Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

(A French Government spokesman in Paris also denied the accuracy of the Times report, saying that private French companies had been authorized to provide technical assistance to Israel. The spokesman denied specifically that Israel had already bought medium-range missiles from France.)

The report in the Times had tied France’s alleged help to Israel in the missiles field to Israel’s research work in the field of atomics, being carried on at Israel’s reactor near Beersheba, built with French help. Israel has repeatedly asserted that the work at the reactor was of a research nature aimed at the use of atomic power for peaceful purposes.

The report claimed that Israel had already placed with France an order for 30 missiles capable of reaching a target 500 miles from Israel, thus making it possible for Israel to hit Egyptian territory. The report also said that “the current Israeli estimate is that the Egyptians have 80 to 90 missiles.” The report noted that Cairo’s missile build-up, aided by West German scientists, had resulted in the development of three different types of missiles with a range of 200 miles to 600 miles.