Israel’s and Egypt’s military outlays are the highest in the world in relation to their gross national product, according to the “Military Balance, 1974-75,” an annual publication of the International Institute of Strategic Studies released here today.
The report said Israel’s defense budget of $3.53 billion for the fiscal year 1974-75 makes Israel’s per capita outlay for weapons the highest in the world and more than four times that of the United States, which is second highest, the report said. Defense expenditures in the Middle East reflect the “very heavy costs” of the Yom Kippur War and the increasing costs of weapons.
Israel’s military spending amounts to almost half of its GNP, estimated for 1973 at $8.7 billion. Egypt’s military budget of $3.117 billion amounts to almost a third of the Egyptian GNP, estimated at $8.4 billion for 1973. The report said that Saudi Arabia military expenditures have increased 700 percent in the last four years. Saudi Arabia’s defense estimates for 1974-75 amount to $1.808 billion. The average defense share of the GNP in the Arab countries is 9.5 percent, compared with three percent in the NATO countries, according to the report.
LESSONS OF YOM KIPPUR WAR
A spokesman stressed at an Institute press conference the re-emerging importance of conventional weaponry which he said promised to be at least as important as nuclear arms in the years ahead. He also said that the Yom Kippur War involved the use of weapons and military equipment on a “dramatic scale,” particularly in the marked impact of guided missiles on conventional warfare. The spokesman said the war had demonstrated improvement of defense capabilities and an erosion in the importance of aircraft and armored vehicles.
He added that missiles supplied to terrorist organizations provide opportunities to concealed assailants to perpetrate acts of violence on an unprecedented scale.
The manpower of Israel’s armed forces is estimated by the Institute at 33,500 regular soldiers and a total of 400,000 in full mobilization. Israel’s Air Force persornel was reported to number 15,000 regulars, 1000 conscripts and a total of 20,000 in full mobilization. The total number of Israel’s combat planes is given as 446. Egypt’s armed forces are reported to total 32,000 with about 500,000 reservists. Egypt’s air force numbers 568 combat planes and 28,000 men. Syria’s total armed forces number 137,500 men. The Syrian Air Force has 300 planes and 10,000 men, the Institute said.
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