Israel Offered More Skyhawks
(September 27, 1968)
After receiving the Israeli request for Phantom jets, administration officials opposed to the sale looked
for ways to delay or prevent the sale. Here the Israelis
are offered the less advanced Skyhawks in an effort
to placate them in the short run. Notice also the relationship
between the decision and the economics of maintaining
the production line.
SUBJECT
Twelve More Skyhawks for Israel
Secretaries Rusk and Clifford recommend that we accede
to an Israeli request for 12 more Skyhawks.
You will recall that our 1966 agreement sold 48 and
that you added another 40 after Prime Minister Eshkol's visit last January.
Now the Israelis have asked for 12 more, since the production line is
going to close down by April 1970 and they would like to have a few
extras to cover possible losses over the next few years.
Secretaries Rusk and Clifford recommend you go ahead.
The Arab world is still unaware of the total number of Skyhawks going
to Israel, and a few more added to the end of the delivery line would
make little difference on the diplomatic front. While this wouldn't
reduce pressure for the Phantoms, it would give us additional evidence
for proving that we are not totally insensitive to their security requirements.
That plus our general interest in Israel's defense are the main reasons
for going ahead; I don't think there's much room for a bargain here.
The only reason this comes up for decision now is that
we must notify Douglas Aircraft by September 30 to avoid a break in
the production line which would add to the price. If we're going to
do it, we might as well keep the line going.
Walt
Approve1
Disapprove
Call me
1 President
Johnson checked this option.
Sources: Foreign
Relations of the United States, 1964-1968, V. 20, Arab-Israeli Dispute
1967-1968. DC: GPO,
2001. |