Rosenne Says U.S. Gained $50 Billion in Technological Data from Sharing Soviet Arms Captured by Isra

Israel has provided the United States with $50 billion worth of technological data from captured Soviet military equipment, it was disclosed today by Meir Rosenne, Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S.

Addressing a meeting of the American Friends of Tel Aviv University, the Israeli envoy said that Israel had saved America “many years of research and billions of dollars” by sharing with the U.S. the planes, tanks, missiles and other Soviet military equipment captured from Arab armies. He said the $50 billion price-tag was an estimate based on a study by two American generals in the Pentagon. “U.S. -Israeli strategic cooperation is a two-way street, bringing benefits to both sides, “Rosenne said. He voiced Israel’s “continued opposition “to the proposed American sale of sophisticated military equipment to Arab nations that refuse to come to the peace table with Israel. Such sales — “now they call them transfers of technology” — jeopardize Israel’s security, he said, adding: ” We don’t want to replenish our arsenal with American equipment captured from the Arabs who attack us.”