"Defense News" reports that there are signs of strong opposition in Israel to the arms package that the US is offering. The package was announced publicly on the eve of US Secretary of Defense Charles Hagel's visit to Israel ten days ago, and was one of the main topics on the agenda in his meetings with Israeli officials.
The offer, described as one of the biggest arms deals ever initiated by Washington in the Middle East, includes V-22 Osprey tiltrotor planes, which take off vertically, but fly like a plane and are mainly use for troop transport; next-generation KC-135 air-to-air refueling tankers; radar destroying missile systems; and advanced radar systems for combat jets. The US has also offered large arms packages to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The aggregate worth of the packages for the three countries is $10 billion, although the value of the package offered to Israel is still unclear.
When the arms package was first announced, "The New York Times" said that one of its purposes was to guarantee that Israel would continue to have the best army in the region, to deter Iran, and deal with a wide range of threats. Hagel said that the planes and missiles would ensure Israel's qualitative edge and air supremacy in the next generation. However, it turns out that the view from Washington is not the same as the view from Israel.
According to "Defense News", Israeli defense industry executives and defense experts are critical of the offer. They say that it was accompanied by a lot of noise and public relations, but that a close examination shows that it has little substance. The opponents argue that Israel lacks the budget to make such huge procurements, and that it has no operational need of the capabilities of the systems in the package.
At a joint press conference with Minister of Defense Moshe Ya'alon on April 22, Hagel said that he and Ya'alon, "agree that the US will make available for Israel advanced military capabilities… that the US has not provided any other country."
However, sources in Israel told "Defense News" that Hagel's remarks were misleading. They expressed surprise at the extraordinary flood of reports emerging from the discussions about possible arms deals, which were never officially reported to Congress. Usually, such discussions are held behind closed doors.
The chairman of a government-owned defense company told "Defense News, "It's one thing to hear grandiose promises, but are these capabilities intended only for Israel? Are the Americans prepared to give us these capabilities at conditions which will meet our immediate defense needs?"
"If the answer is no, as I suspect," added the chairman, who spoke anonymously, "then we need to ask whether our American friends generates all the headlines and PR noise to justify the sale of advanced technologies to our neighbors, and this would be a very alarming development."
It is possible to count the number of chairmen of Israeli government-owned defense companies on the fingers of one hand (and have some fingers left over), but attempts by "Globes" to identify the anonymous chairman were fruitless.
US and Israeli sources told "Defense News" that, despite the premature reports, there has been no agreement between the two countries about the proposed arms package. Talks on the costs, quantities, conditions, and delivery dates will only begin in late May or early June.
A US defense source said, "The defense secretary apparently meant to say (in the press conference with Ya'alon) that when the Israeli government is ready, the US will welcome Israeli requests for systems included in the proposed package."
"Defense News" added that IDF planning sources and defense industry executives disagree about Hagel's statement that the package for Israel is only for Israel. Five countries operate the KC-135, including Turkey and Saudi Arabia. From another angle, official Israeli sources say that at twice in the past ten years, Israel did not exercise opportunities to procure the planes, because of the astronomical costs to upgrade aging and slow planes.
Israeli sources added that the Pentagon and the Osprey's manufacturers, Bell Helicopter Inc. and Boeing Rotorcraft Systems Inc., in Texas, have been in talks for over a year with the United Arab Emirates to sell the plane, in an effort to prevent the gradual shutting down of the Osprey production line in 2018.
The IDF Ground Forces commander supports the Air Force's wish to procure the Osprey, but the chief of staff did not include it in the list of priority procurements in the next five-year plan.
A top Ministry of Defense official said that the ministry would discuss all kinds of scenarios for procuring the Osprey, to see whether it was possible to postpone payment for the first planes delivered. He estimated the cost at $800 million.
"Defense News" says, however, that if the US provides Israel with short-term emergency financing, it would take at least a year to install new capabilities and obtain the necessary permits, whereas Israel's window of opportunity to attack Iran is expected to close within months. Israeli experts therefore doubt the Pentagon's claims that the arms package for Israeli is a warning to Iran.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 1, 2013
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