Israeli Defense Bolstered

U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen indicated that Washington has agreed to expand the joint Arrow anti-missile project and provide funding for a third battery of missiles for Israel.

Cohen told reporters, after meeting with Israeli Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai in the U.S. on March 27, that the U.S. is “committed to maintaining Israel's qualitative edge, and we...concur that there is a need, for example, for Israel to acquire a third Arrow battery, and we will cooperate as best we can to see that that occurs.”

The Arrow 2 was originally due to become operational in 1998, but the target date has been pushed back until 1999 or 2000.

In other developments, Israel received two new F-15I aircraft from the United States. An additional pair of F-15s are expected to arrive soon, and the squadron is due to be fully operational by the end of 1998.

Also, Ha'aretz reported (March 30) that Russia sold Israel hundreds of satellite pictures of Syria, Iran and Iraq for about $1 million. News of the sale emerged during the trial of two Russian military intelligence officers on spying charges in Russia. The fact that Russian military intelligence reportedly sold the images to Mossad may, to some extent, undermine Arab and Iranian confidence in Moscow's Middle Eastern role.