Chancellor Helmut Kohl and Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher clashed angrily at a Cabinet meeting Tuesday over a $200 million West German loan to finance Jordan’s purchase of eight advanced Tornado jet fighter-bombers.
Kohl defended the deal. Genscher opposes it, as does his Free Democratic Party, the junior partner in the governing coalition led by Kohl’s Christian Democratic Union.
The loan was advanced by the Munich-based Bayerische Landesbank, which is owned by the federal state of Bavaria.
The Bonn government, which originally was to have underwritten the project, was forced to abandon it three months ago because of public protests.
The FDP and the opposition Social Democratic Party say the sale is a threat to Israel and violates Bonn’s longstanding policy of barring arms shipments to “areas of tension.”
Kohl told Genscher there is nothing “immoral” about the transaction.
The Tornado is produced jointly by West Germany, Britain and Italy. Although about 40 percent of its components are manufactured in Bavaria, it is marketed primarily by Britain.
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher reportedly intervened with Kohl to secure the financing.
Wolfgang Schauble, an aide to the chancellor, said Israel had been informed in advance of the deal and raised no objections.
A spokesman for the Israel Embassy here refused to comment. But Israel is keeping a low profile on this and other matters.
Observers note, for example, that unlike the United States, Israel has been restrained in its reaction to reports that West German firms have helped Libya build a chemical weapons plant.
Israel’s restraint is attributed to the inroads its military industries have made recently into the West German market.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
