Five Republican Congressmen announced today that they had been advised that France will release 12 Mystere IV jet fighter planes to Israel. They “applauded” the “cooperation” of the State Department in “this action to redress the imbalance of arms in the Middle East.”
However, a State Department spokesman said that the United States neither approves nor disapproves of the sale of the French jet planes to Israel. The U.S. position on this matter had not changed, he stated, explaining that the U.S. considers it an issue for the French Government to decide.
French sources in Washington indicated that the Republican Congressional announcement about the French sale of jet planes to Israel might be “premature.” A French diplomat pointed out that tripartite consultation on this very matter was now in progress and has not been finally resolved.
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