Nixon administration sources have let it be known that the United States is supplying weapons to Israel, including aircraft, to compensate for the strengthening of Egypt’s Soviet-missile system in the Suez Canal cease-fire zone. The disclosure was made on Monday to a group of news executives by administration officials at a background briefing in Hartford, Conn. A transcript was released here yesterday. It was the first official confirmation of long standing reports that the U.S. has been shipping arms and other military equipment to Israel since it confirmed Israel’s charges that the Egyptians were introducing new missiles into the cease-fire zone despite the stand-still truce that went into effect Aug. 7. Release of the transcript was regarded as a deliberate move in the current diplomatic jousting with Moscow over the alleged truce violations. According to the disclosures, Israel is receiving more U.S. aircraft, air-to-ground missiles, electronic jamming devices and other weapons. The administration officials said they were intended to restore the pre-cease-fire balance of strength in the canal zone.
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