U.S. Moves Bypass Main Ally, Israel : Military: But the nation stands ready to help behind the scenes.

The deployment of U.S. forces to Saudi Arabia has bypassed Israel, even though Israel is the United States’ principal strategic ally in the Middle East, but officials here said Wednesday that Israel stands willing and ready to help the U.S. effort behind the scenes.

Although officials in Jerusalem and Washington agree that to move U.S. military forces through here would not be in the best interests of either country, and that the Jewish state should keep a low profile in the present crisis, military sources indicated that Israel is prepared to provide whatever assistance the United States wishes.

“True, we have a strategic relationship,” a source close to the military said, “but we both know--and the Arabs know--that this is not the time for Israel to come to America’s assistance in Saudi Arabia. If they really need our help, they can count on us.”

U.S. and Israeli officials are aware of the irony in the situation: The United States, despite its massive military support for Israel over the years, cannot call on Jerusalem for direct help.

And Israelis are fully aware of the potential for criticism that although the United States helps Israel when it is in trouble, Israel cannot do the same for the United States--and that as a consequence the relationship is something of a one-way street.

Gerald Steinberg, a professor of strategic studies at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University, said: “The problems of this relationship have always been well understood privately. We realize how sensitive it would be for the Saudis if the United States were to stage forces through Israel.”

Joseph Alpher, deputy head of the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University, said: “The fact that we can’t participate in operations against an Arab state with the U.S. has been clear for some time. The U.S. knows that it can rely on us, but under the present circumstances Washington is saying they’d rather not.

“I think Israelis realize that the U.S. has political interests in the Arab world and that calling on us for help at this point would only be an embarrassment. Washington is having enough difficulty lining up support among the Arab states.”

Israeli officials point out, however, that if they cannot offer military facilities, they can help in other ways--and are doing so.

Primarily they are providing a wide range of tactical intelligence about developments in the Persian Gulf region. They have been doing this ever since Iraq began its buildup against Kuwait.

“Israel has very good human intelligence sources in the gulf,” a Western diplomat said.

Other forms of assistance, military sources said, could include an early warning of any hostile action against ships of the U.S. 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean.

Some Israelis would like to see the United States rely on Israeli hospitals for emergency medical treatment of any casualties suffered in the gulf region.

“When the U.S. Marines were blown up in Beirut in 1983,” an Israeli specialist said, “we would have liked to see them helicoptered to our hospitals 30 minutes away, where we specialize in treating such cases. Instead, they were flown all the way back to Ramstein (Air Base) in Germany, and some Marines who died might have been saved.”

Retired Maj. Gen. Yehoshua Saguy, a former chief of intelligence, said: “We understand the delicate situation the United States faces. It would be diplomatically wrong to ask us to help, though Israel could provide much. We are ready to assist the United States in whatever way it needs, though right now the possibility of it asking us for help is very unlikely.”