France has invited Defense Minister Shimon Peres and Israeli Air Force Commander Gen. Benjamin Peled to attend the Paris aviation show as official guests of the French government. The invitation was the first in a number of years to be extended to an Israeli Defense Minister. Peres and Peled were said to be considering accepting it and will reply later this week.
A matter still undecided is whether Israel will exhibit its new “Kfir” supersonic jet fighter at the Paris show. The Israelis are anxious to demonstrate the first combat aircraft built entirely in Israel but the French are said to object because the “Kfir” might compete with their own Mirages that they hope to market abroad. However, Israel’s Arava commercial jet and its “Gabriel” surface-to-surface missiles, the chief armament of Israel’s navy, will be demonstrated at the Paris show.
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