Israeli Arms Sales to China Not in ‘Billions of Dollars,’ Rabin Says

Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin said Wednesday that an American intelligence report that Israel may have sold billions of dollars of arms to China is “total nonsense.” But he did not deny that arms were sold.

The release of the CIA assessment, which bolstered numerous reports about Israeli-Chinese arms deals over the past decade, coincided with the first visit of an Israeli prime minister to China since the two countries established diplomatic relations in January, 1992.

The CIA assessment was provided to a Senate committee last week.

In the report, CIA director R. James Woolsey said the sales have gone on for more than a decade, and Israel and China appeared to be moving toward broader military cooperation. Equipment sold to China included programs for jet fighters, air-to-air missiles and tanks, the report quoted Woolsey as saying.

“All these stories of billions of dollars of arms business in the last 12 years are total nonsense,” Rabin said, adding that “we . . . sold a little bit over $60 million (of goods) last year and this year.”

Asked for details about Israeli-Chinese cooperation in security and defense, he said only that Israel’s relations with China did not contradict the law or its commitments to the United States.

Rabin made the comments at a news conference at the conclusion of a four-day visit to Beijing. He is scheduled to leave for home tonight after visiting Shanghai.

The report said Israel has sold technology to China despite American concerns about a Chinese military buildup and Beijing’s export of arms to Iran, Pakistan and other countries.