Israel’s Arens on Way to U.S. to Ask OK for Retaliation : Diplomacy: The visit comes at a time of growing discomfort at home at being left out of war. Levy and Shamir will also visit Washington this month.

Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Arens is flying to Washington today to seek approval for Israel’s plans to avenge Iraqi missile assaults and to lobby for more military aid, government officials said Saturday.

The one-day trip by Arens kicks off a series of visits by top Israeli officials at a time of growing discomfort here with being left out of the war against Iraq and suspicion that at the conflict’s end, Israel may be pressed to concede occupied territory to Palestinians as part of an overall Middle East peace settlement.

Foreign Minister David Levy is expected to meet with Secretary of State James A. Baker III early this week, and, later in the month, Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir plans to go to Washington to visit President Bush.

Despite increased communication between leaders on both sides, the Shamir government insists that Israel is being denied full cooperation from Washington.

There is special concern that the Bush Administration is unwilling to approve secret Israeli plans to strike at Iraq. Israel will retaliate if it is attacked by chemical weapons or suffers high casualties from missiles carrying conventional explosive warheads, Shamir told Bush in a letter last week.

“There is simply not enough communication,” said a government official in discussing the need for Arens’ trip. “Arens will discuss how Israel will respond to Iraqi attacks. We have our plans of action in place, but we need to work out just when and how with the Americans.”

In Washington, however, a U.S. official said the Arens-Cheney talks are not likely to include discussion of the timing or means of Israeli retaliation for missile attacks.

“They can talk about it, but we don’t want them to do it,” the official said. “We have consistently asked for restraint and will continue to do so.”

Arens’ visit coincides with days of decision in the Bush Administration over when and how to launch a ground campaign to oust Iraqi troops from Kuwait.

Israeli analysts believe that once the land offensive is under way, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein will target Israel with chemical weapons, or perhaps a crude nuclear device. Flooding western Iraqi skies with Israeli jet bombers in search of missile launchers has been discussed here as a means of preempting any such attack.

After Saturday’s Scud explosion rocked a middle-class neighborhood in greater Tel Aviv, Israeli civil defense officials listed 26 wounded, including seven people who suffered “chest pains” when they heard the blast and six who “panicked.”

U.S.-supplied Patriot missiles reportedly were fired at the Scud, and witnesses said they saw an explosion in the sky. But the warhead apparently fell to the ground and exploded, its impact demolishing parts of at least three houses on one street and shattering windows and shutters in 150 apartments nearby.

Shamir indicated that Israel will remain passive. Counseling patience, he said: “We are getting closer to the end of these murderous and terrorist attacks. The war machine of the coalition is continuing to operate with all its might.

“Israel’s problem,” Shamir said, “is to make sure we don’t suffer too many injuries and damage until the end of this murderous regime is here.”

Israel has agreed to stick to a policy of restraint as long as the U.S. Air Force works to hunt down and destroy mobile Scud launchers. Washington pressured the Shamir government to hold back in the face of Iraqi missile attack on the grounds that any move to retaliate could widen the war in to a general Middle East conflict, putting Israel and the United States on one side and Arab countries, including some present U.S. allies, on the other.

Besides the practical risk of restraint--that an Iraqi missile or plane could cause extensive damage and casualties--some Israeli officials fear that restraint has thrown the country’s willingness to deter attack into question.

In addition, statements from Washington and European capitals on resolving Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians are irritating to the Shamir government. Officials said they expected to be rewarded for restraint by reduced pressure to give up land to the Palestinians in return for peace. Talk of an international conference, opposed by Shamir, are viewed as leading to a surrender of land.

During Arens’ visit, he is expected to bring up joint projects and requirements for Israel’s defense. High on his wish-list are radar, electronics and air guidance systems, a government official said.

The United States provides Israel with more than $1.8 billion in military aid annually and has provided Israel with six Patriot antimissile systems.

Times staff writer John M. Broder in Washington contributed to this article.