Officials in Israel have voiced ignorance about a Soviet report last week that Israel had launched a ballistic missile into the Mediterranean Sea between Libya and Greece.
Both the prime minister’s media adviser, Avi Pazner, and Foreign Ministry spokesman Yosef Amihud declined Friday to comment on the Tass report, saying they “had no knowledge whatsoever about this matter.”
Official military sources also said they had no knowledge of such a missile firing.
The Tass report quoted “data from the Defense Ministry of the USSR” that the missile had been launched in the region of Jerusalem over a range of 800 miles, landing some 250 miles north of Benghazi, Libya.
According to Tass, Israel previously launched a ballistic missile in January 1988.
The Soviets have long been concerned that Israel is developing a long-range missile that would have the capability of striking targets in the USSR.
A ballistic missile is a long-range rocket, guided by preset mechanisms in the first part of its flight that becomes a free-falling object as it approaches its target.
According to Jane’s Defense Weekly, Israel conducted secret tests of its Jericho-II surface-to-surface tactical nuclear missile in May 1987 and September 1988. During the first of these attempts, the rocket reportedly covered a 525-mile distance and splashed down in the Mediterranean, south of Crete.
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