Concern is mounting in official circles here over reports of large scale U.S. arms sales to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. According to the reports, the U.S. will be selling $500 million worth of modern weaponry and equipment to each of the oil rich Persian Gulf states. A report today that Washington will provide Saudi Arabia with F-4 Phantom jets created shock waves in both government circles and the public.
Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S., Simcha Dinitz, has been instructed to seek full details from the State Department on the quantity and quality of the American arms going to the Arab states. He has met once this week with Assistant Secretary of State Joseph J.Sisco on the matter, it was learned.
Meanwhile, top level discussions are underway here to decide on Israel’s position in light of American arms shipments to the Persian Gulf area. Premier Golda Meir, Foreign Minister Abba Eban and Defense Minister Moshe Dayan are known to be participating in the discussions.
The prospect of Phantom jets in the hands of Saudi Arabia has a chilling effect here. The supersonic fighter-bomber is Israel’s main military asset and can outperform any aircraft presently in the Arab arsenal. There is genuine fear that the Phantoms sold to King Faisal may find their way to Egypt. Israelis are also concerned that the presence of the American jets in the Saudian air force might prompt the Soviet Union to sell Egypt and Iraq its sophisticated MIG-23S, the fastest known combat plane in the world, to balance the new acquisition of Saudian air power.
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