U.S. Storing Arms in Israel, Cheney Says

Defense Secretary Dick Cheney said Friday that U.S. military equipment is being stockpiled in Israel in case of a future war.

“We currently are implementing an agreement with Israel to pre-position materials and equipment here,” he told reporters after meeting Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir. “That’s under way as we speak.”

The United States earlier built bunkers for storing weapons and support equipment, but it delayed filling them because of concern about alienating Arab allies in the Middle East. Diplomatic sources said Cheney’s statement was the first public acknowledgment that the storage program is under way.

A senior Israeli army official told the Jerusalem Post newspaper that the stored equipment would be used “first and foremost for the needs of the United States, to help prevent the recurrence of a situation in which arms must be brought by ship from around the world, as in the prelude to the Gulf War.”

It was unclear what type of military equipment and how much is being supplied to Israel.

Cheney said the United States is trying to reach similar agreements with Persian Gulf nations.

The defense secretary made the statements a day after announcing that Washington will supply Israel with 10 used F-15 fighter jets and pay 72% of the cost of Israel’s Arrow antimissile program.

Cheney and Israeli officials repeatedly emphasized the close military cooperation between their countries during his visit, with Cheney saying President Bush’s Middle East arms-control proposal--made this week--would not threaten the Jewish state.

“The plan is not for an absolute, total ban on all arms shipments to the region, but rather for the convening of a conference of suppliers with the view in mind of stopping the abnormal proliferation of armaments to the region such as contributed to (Iraqi President) Saddam Hussein’s acquiring the fourth-largest army in the world,” Cheney said.

Cheney, who flew to Cairo later Friday, said the extra military aid is consistent with the arms-control plan because Bush said Middle East countries should have weapons needed for security.

“There is nothing inconsistent with, on the one hand, saying that we are interested in pursuing arms control and, on the other hand, providing for the legitimate security requirements that many of our friends in the region do have,” Cheney said.