Israel Presses U.S. for OK to Launch Retaliatory Strikes : Mideast: Defense planners feel they can help wipe out the Iraqi missile threat. And they’re itching to get at it.

Voicing increased concern about the threat of chemical attack on Israeli civilians, the government of Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir is pressing hard to get approval from Washington for retaliatory strikes against Iraq despite the political risks to the anti-Baghdad alliance, Israeli officials said Monday.

A Scud missile or perhaps more than one struck in or near Israel on Monday night, the seventh attack launched against Israel since the war against Iraq began 12 days ago. The missile or missiles carried explosive warheads and appeared to cause little damage, army officials said.

Government radio reports said that parts of a missile struck in the occupied West Bank, home to 1.7 million Palestinians who in large part have supported Iraq’s takeover of Kuwait. Many Palestinians have approved of the air attacks on Israel as just reprisal for the continued occupation.

None of the six U.S.-supplied Patriot anti-missile batteries were fired at the approaching Iraqi missiles. Army spokesmen declined to say why. The Scud remnants apparently fell harmlessly in fields.

Despite the missile strikes, Israel has maintained a formula of restraint and cooperation with the United States. But officials indicate that defense planners believe Israel can contribute to wiping out the missile threat and at some point should be allowed to do so.

“There are plans,” said Defense Minister Moshe Arens, without elaboration.

Explained a government official: “The difference between now and a week ago is that before, the army folks were not sure what they could do. Now, they have come up with it and are looking for approval.”

An official close to Shamir said the government is “asking” the Bush Administration for its blessing.

Speaking of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, the official said: “There is a lot of concern here that this madman will use chemical weapons. I think we could be useful in thwarting that threat.”

Another senior official added: “We want to be able to get in as soon as we decide we have to. We have registered this desire with the United States.”

The give-and-take with Washington over the issue of retaliation is put in terms of coordination, implying that there is yet no agreement on fitting Israeli actions into the overall plans of American commanders in the Persian Gulf. According to Israeli newspapers, the Pentagon continues to withhold codes that would permit Israeli jet bombers to enter Iraqi airspace and be distinguished by American pilots from enemy aircraft.

Defense Minister Arens advised that “a significant degree of coordination is required so that we can work in the same airspace.”

Prime Minister Shamir, speaking to the Defense and Intelligence Committee of Israel’s Parliament, said Monday: “We will do everything under the existing circumstances, in coordination with the United States. We will continue to do this, and I don’t think it causes any damage to Israel’s deterrent capability.”

Suggesting attacks that would be limited to knocking out Iraqi Scud launchers, Shamir added: “Israel is not interested in doing anything that won’t be of use in reducing the dangers threatening us.”

He termed Israeli plans not retaliation, but self-defense.

In recent days, Israeli defense officials have contradicted the assertion of some American experts that Iraq is incapable of mounting a gas warhead on its rockets. In any case, the Israelis concluded, squads of jet bombers could deliver chemical bombs with greater accuracy than the Scud--if they can penetrate Israeli air defenses.

Shamir warned Hussein that if he uses chemical weapons, he would be “risking himself and his country to a very, very grave extent.” Not only Israel, but the United States and its allies, “will take all steps to remove this terrible danger,” he said.

The persistence of missile attacks and pledges by Saddam Hussein to unleash “nonconventional” weapons on Israel has raised anxiety about a chemical attack. On Monday, Israeli newspapers gave feature space to remarks by U.S. Defense Secretary Dick Cheney that Iraq “may eventually begin to fire Scuds with chemical warheads.”

“That’s a threat not only to our forces in Saudi Arabia, but to civilian populations there and in Israel as well,” Cheney concluded.

In Israel, tens of thousands of coastal residents have taken refuge in Jerusalem and other inland cities which, so far, have been immune from the rain of rockets. Newspapers have begin to speculate that Iraq may target Israel with germ warfare.

Israeli defense analysts believe that a chemical assault would probably coincide with American efforts to drive Iraqi troops from Kuwait with infantry and tanks. More and more, the experts are talking openly of the need for an allied ground attack in western Iraq where the missile launchers are located.

“The most promising possibility lies in combat methods which will combine precise aerial bombings with ground operations,” wrote Ron Ben Yishai, the defense correspondent for Yediot Aharonot, Israel’s largest newspaper. “Carrying it out entails great risks and perhaps real losses. That explains the Americans’ hesitation.”

Israel itself “has methods of operation which will respond to this problem,” he continued.

The drawbacks are political, Israeli observers say. The United States insists that its alliance with Arab countries would be upset by Israeli participation in the war. Iran, which has declared neutrality, also said it would go to war--on Iraq’s side--if Israel takes part.

Iran is harboring between 80 and 100 Iraqi airplanes, according to reports from U.S. officials and Britain, and it is not clear whether the pilots are defectors or whether Saddam Hussein received guarantees from Iran to protect the jets until he needs to throw them into combat.