Saudi-British Arms Deal Alarms Top Israel Leaders

Senior Israeli ministers today expressed alarm at Saudi Arabia’s multibillion-dollar arms purchase from Britain, but Israeli newspapers blamed the deal in part on Israeli lobbying in the U.S. Congress.

The independent dailies Haaretz and the Jerusalem Post said Israel’s success in limiting U.S. arms sales to Riyadh may have driven the Saudis to seek weapons elsewhere, without the restrictions on usage imposed by American contracts.

A cartoon in Haaretz showed an Israeli dog chasing an American arms salesman from a Saudi palace while British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher quietly trades guns for cash with a Saudi prince through the back window.

Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said he believes that Saudi Arabia bought the package of fighter-bombers, attack helicopters and mine hunters because of the Iran-Iraq War.

“I think their fear of Iran was the main reason for buying the arms,” he told the army radio. “But at times you find justification to use them for one purpose and then use them for another purpose.”

Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin told reporters: “We must take into account all of the arsenals and growing firepower in every Arab country that has not made peace with this country.

“It is hard for Arab countries that have such equipment to refrain from using it,” he added.

The Saudi acquisition, which includes about 50 Tornado fighter-bombers, is the latest in a series of advanced arms deals made by Arab countries technically at war with Israel.

Gulf military sources estimated the deal at $17 billion but Rabin said it was worth between $20 billion and $30 billion.

Last month Israeli and U.S. officials said that Saudi Arabia had bought medium-range ground-to-ground missiles from China and that Syria also was negotiating to buy advanced Chinese missiles.