The Soviet sale of advanced fighter planes to Libya will not contribute to regional peacemaking, Foreign Minister Moshe Arens said Thursday.
Arens said the sale had taken Israel by surprise. The remark seemed to be designed to counter speculation in the West that Israel itself had leaked the story to The New York Times as a way of easing pressure on Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, as he held important political talks in Washington.
In a formal statement on the Soviet-Libyan deal, Israel’s Foreign Ministry said “the Soviet Union, which states that it seeks to relieve situations of confrontations around the world, including the Middle East, is supplying offensive weaponry to the Libyan regime (which) does not hide its intentions to attack Israel.”
The ministry spokesman told reporters here that Libya had already received a half-dozen or so planes, out of a reported order of 12. Nevertheless, he said, Israel is urging the Soviet Union to reconsider the deal.
But neither Arens nor the Foreign Ministry spokesman would respond directly to questions from the foreign press about whether Israel’s air force was contemplating pre-emptive action against Libya.
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