Israeli Defense Minister Shimon Peres said here yesterday that Israel is “not receiving 100 percent of” the military “aid promised” by the U.S. although the “better part” of the supplies are being delivered, He made that remark at a press conference with military and diplomatic correspondents following a three-hour meeting with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld at the Pentagon.
Asked whether he thought the delay in some arms deliveries was due to bureaucratic red tape, or to a U.S. policy decision, Peres replied, “I will mention the fact but not select the reasons.”
The Israeli defense chief spoke at length of the Arab superiority to his country in terms of military equipment and observed that U.S. arms supplies to Israel is “in a very measured way just to protect itself (Israel) against the arms coming from Russia” to the neighboring Arab countries.
ARMS RATIO FAVORS ARABS
Peres said that Israel is considered “very strong” if the ratio of Arab to Israeli arms is 2. 8-1 but in fact “even when it would be 2-1” it
Peres said it was “extremely difficult for us to maintain this ratio” and that in some fields the imbalance was 5-1 and in the case of missiles “hundreds to one” in favor of the Arabs. He suggested a de-escalation of the arms race in the Middle East, noting that the Arab countries were getting $20 billion in armaments from the Soviet Union, the U.S. and Europe.
Peres said his visit to Washington was “successful and very friendly.” He said his talk with Rumsfeld gave him an opportunity to explain Israel’s position on prospects for the future and its need for military equipment. He added that he was appreciative of the U.S. response to Israel’s requests and “we are still negotiating.”
Asked how long Israel would require assistance from the U.S. in the range of the $1.5 billion in military credits under consideration, and how strong Israel feels it must be to be in a good negotiating position, Peres replied, “My personal view is that only a self-assured Israel will be the best partner to conduct negotiations.” He stressed that Israel is not asking for military supplies out of existing U.S. stocks and noted that the cost of military hardware has forced Israel to scale down its requests.
In that connection, Peres said that Israel wanted 50 F-15 fighter planes but “when we saw the price we became more modest” and are asking for 26. He would not say how many F-16 planes Israel has requested, referring to an aircraft that will not be available until 1981-82. He noted that the Arab countries now have 140 MIG-23s, one of the top Soviet fighter planes.
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