Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger acknowledged today that the U.S. plans to sell six Hercules C-130 military transports to Egypt, indicated that this could be the forerunner of a broad program of large-scale American military sales to that country and stated in effect that the C-130 sale was in the United States’ interest whether Israel approved or not. Kissinger’s statements before the House International Relations Committee were later confirmed in substance by State Department spokesman Robert Funseth.
The issue of arms sales to Egypt was raised by Rep. Lee Hamilton (D. Ind.) during the course of Kissinger’s report on his recent Latin American trip to the committee this morning. He said, under questioning by Hamilton, that the Ford Administration had agreed to sell Egypt the C-130s “to symbolize to Egypt that it has some Western connections.” The Secretary added, “But of course, we cannot be the principal arms supplier of Egypt.”
Asked about Israeli Premier Yitzhak Rabin’s protest over the sale, Kissinger noted that he had told Rabin when the latter was in Washington that the Administration intended to sell C-130s to Egypt. Kissinger said, “You can’t expect Israel to give formal approval or give any approval to this sale, but I think we have to do what we think is in our national interest.”
Kissinger also remarked, with obvious sarcasm, “I don’t have the impression that he (Rabin) is planning to run his electoral campaign on the basis of supporting that (C-130) decision.”
JUSTIFIES SALE TO EGYPT
Kissinger justified the sale to Egypt by saying that “Egypt is in a very complicated position. It has interrupted its military relations with the Soviet Union. It is getting no new arms from the Soviet Union and is being pressed with respect to spare parts. This has been a very courageous decision on the part of President Sadat to ease tensions in the area and to move it toward peace.”
Kissinger told the committee that he does not “anticipate” other purchases by Egypt in the “next few months.” However, he added, “We have given a general briefing to a number of Congressmen about our philosophy” with respect to the sale of weapons to Egypt. The Secretary pointed out that Congress will have the opportunity to pass on “any significant sale” to Egypt.
State Department spokesman Robert Funseth, responding to reporters’ questions about Kissinger’s remarks to the committee, specifically about additional arms sales to Egypt, said the Administration is “not ruling out future military sales to Egypt but the C-130s are the only item now.” Pressed about the possibility of a much broader series of weapons requests from Egypt, Funseth said “That’s a fair interpretation of what he (Kissinger) said to the committee this morning.”
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