Twenty-five of the 50 Mirage-V jet planes ordered by Israel have been transferred to Israeli ownership but are being held in storage in France pending the lifting of the French Government’s embargo on military planes for Israel, it was reported here today. The technical “delivery” of the jets was arranged by agreement between Israeli military representatives and the Dassault Co., manufacturers of the supersonic aircraft. The agreement stipulated that as each plane was completed to Israeli specifications, it would be transferred to Israeli ownership.
Foreign Minister Maurice Couve de Murville, however, informed the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs, that the embargo on military planes to belligerents in last June’s Middle East war will be maintained. He confirmed that Iraq had ordered 54 Mirage jets and would receive them within two or three years. Israel made final payment on April 15, the due date, for the 50 Mirage-V Jets it ordered from France two years ago. Sources here and abroad noted that Israel was now in a position to bring legal action against France for non-delivery of the planes.
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