U.S. Reportedly Blocks 2 French Reactors for Israel
France has agreed to a U.S. request that it cancel plans to sell as many as two nuclear reactors to Israel, an Israeli newspaper said Sunday.
The daily Haaretz quoted Washington sources as giving two reasons for seeking to deny Israel an atomic power plant: its refusal to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the strain the purchase would put on its ailing economy.
Israel, whose 1984 inflation was 444%, got $2.6 billion in U.S. aid last year.
An aide to French President Francois Mitterrand was recently in Israel. The Israeli Labor Party newspaper Davar said the aide, Jacques Attali, apparently discussed the supplying of the reactors to Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres visited Paris in December and said later that Israel might buy French reactors to increase electricity production. Israeli officials have said the United States rejected past Israeli requests to purchase American-built reactors.
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