Israeli intelligence services distributed two aerial reconnaissance photographs today showing Soviet made T-34 tanks in the hands of Palestinian terrorists in south Lebanon. An army spokesman said the tanks, of World War II vintage, are positioned near Tyre, a terrorist stronghold on the Lebanese coast.
The photos bear out Israeli reports and corroborating information by the Christian Phalangist radio in Lebanon, that the Palestine Liberation Organization was receiving heavy equipment from Russia. The PLO has denied this. Israeli intelligence also has information that Palestinians are undergoing training in armored warfare in Syria and in Soviet bloc countries.
Meanwhile, Premier Menachem Begin had lavish praise today for the Merkava tank, designed and manufactured in Israel, and the man who designed it, Gen. Israel Tol. Begin was the guest of the army ordnance corp at an installation where the tank is produced. He noted its main characteristics which are maximum protection for its crew, its speed and maneuverability.
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