US Asks Israel Not To Sell Radar System To India

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US Asks Israel Not To Sell Radar System To India, Reports Say

By Julie Stahl

CNSNews.com Jerusalem Bureau Chief

March 28, 2003

 

Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) - The U.S. is asking Israel not to sell an

advanced airborne radar warning system to India because it fears the

sale will further inflame tensions between India and Pakistan, media

reports here have said this week.

 

The $1-billion deal would supply PHALCON AWACS spy planes to the

Indian air force. According to reports, a Washington official

recently approached the Israeli embassy in Washington, asking Israel

to freeze the deal.

 

But one diplomatic source said here on Friday that although there has

been a lot of talk in the media, there is "nothing new" with regards

to the deal.

 

Ties between Israel and India have been growing closer over the last

few years. Both countries face terrorism from Islamic extremists and

both countries have been somewhat sidelined in the worldwide war

against terror because of other diplomatic concerns.

 

Israel reportedly is the largest supplier of weapons to India. Annual

bilateral trade between the countries amounts to about $1 billion.

 

An expert on Israeli-Indian relations, Dr. Martin Sherman from the

Interdisciplinary Center in Herzylia near Tel Aviv, said in an

earlier interview that that Washington had approved of this growing

relationship, which it viewed as a "strong stabilizing force in an

unstable region."

 

Prior to current tensions between India and Pakistan, it was assumed

that the U.S. had less of a problem with Israel's sale of the AWACS

system to India than it did to China.

 

Washington pressured Israel to cancel a $250-million deal to sell the

PHALCON surveillance system to China -- with the possibility of

netting a further $1 billion in additional sales -- in July 2000.

 

The U.S. feared that the system could be used against U.S. troops in

the Straits of Taiwan if tensions flared between Taiwan and China.

 

Israel's reluctance to cancel the deal angered U.S. lawmakers and

created an unprecedented rift between Israel and Congress. In the

end, the cancellation soured relations between Israel and China and

cost Israel a huge amount of money in damages.

 

"We got into a mess," the diplomatic source said. "We learned quite a

lot from that experience... This time around everything is being done

with the full knowledge of the U.S."