Peres Supports Lavi Project

Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, putting defense needs over living standards, ignored a U.S. recommendation and came out in favor today of continuing to develop the expensive Lavi fighter jet.

Labor Party leader Peres’ support for the controversial Lavi project appeared to further split the Israeli Cabinet, which plans to vote Sunday on whether to take American advice and scrap the multibillion-dollar project or seek new ways to finance it. Peres said the Lavi project should be developed “even at the expense of a rise in the standard of living.”