Israel is considering building her own jet fighter aircraft because of lack of confidence in the United States as a trustworthy source. Alfred Friendly reported in a dispatch from Jerusalem to the Washington Post. The report said that “a nonspecific, nonpublic promise from a lame-duck President may be insufficient for a nation that sees its survival at stake. Thus the current debate, still under wraps, over whether to build planes here.”
Notice was taken of the French termination of jet sales and the urgent need for supersonic jets to balance the Soviet buildup in the surrounding Arab states. It appeared to Friendly that the United States “has refused for the moment to plug the gap, arguing that as of now Israel is militarily secure and that if of circumstances change. It will take another look at what has to be done.”
The report noted Israel’s demonstrated skills, including the manufacture of jet engines and small nonmilitary jets. “It should not be beyond their ability to duplicate the Mirage and keep modifying it to stay abreast of modernization requirements.” But the expense would be tremendous, Friendly reported. According to the Post “Israel is known to be ready to produce its own tanks. Its prowess in electronic equipment manufacture is evidenced by the fact that it not only produced its own for the Patton tanks it bought from the United States, but recently sold $7 million of the same equipment for Argentina’s Patton tanks.”
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.
