Israel Cancels Sale of Radar System to China

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak patched up a festering dispute with the United States on Wednesday by canceling the sale of an advanced airborne radar system to China, possibly clearing the way for U.S. financial assistance to seal any peace deal he strikes with the Palestinians.

Barak’s spokesman, Gadi Baltiansky, tied the move directly to the peace talks that began Tuesday near here at Camp David, saying his government abandoned the $250-million sale “due to Israel’s joint effort with the United States to achieve an historic decision regarding Israel’s vital interests in the region.”

He added that Barak acted to preserve “a continued intimate relationship with the United States administration and Congress.”

The move overshadowed the second day of talks at the secluded presidential retreat in the northern Maryland mountains. While U.S. officials would not discuss the substance of the discussions, White House Press Secretary Joe Lockhart signaled that President Clinton, Barak and Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat had already engaged in some tough bargaining.

“We went into this knowing it would be a struggle, and we have not been disappointed by that,” Lockhart said. “This is a very difficult process in a short time frame with very difficult issues.”

Barak’s decision was welcomed by the White House and members of Congress who have been critical of the planned sale of the Israeli-made surveillance system, which would have helped China modernize its military forces.

“It was a very wise decision on the part of the prime minister to take that direction,” said Rep. Sonny Callahan (R-Ala.), chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee on foreign operations. “I don’t think Israel should have entered into this sale to begin with.”

Callahan and other lawmakers had warned that Congress would be unlikely to appropriate the U.S. funding needed to support an Israeli-Palestinian peace pact as long as the plane sale was in the works.

Middle East experts have said it will take tens of billions of dollars--much of it earmarked for the Palestinians--to complete a peace accord. Although some of the money is expected to come from wealthy countries in Europe, Asia and the Persian Gulf region, a sizable U.S. pledge is considered necessary to underwrite an agreement.

Last fall, Republicans only reluctantly agreed to pay $1.8 billion to help carry out provisions of the Wye River peace accord, signed by Israel and the Palestinians in October 1998. This time, Callahan has already demanded “substantial justification” for any new aid proposals.

The $250-million Phalcon airborne radar system was the first of four that Israel had hoped to sell to China in a package ultimately valued at $1 billion.

Each system consists of a Russian-made plane fitted with Israeli-made radar components that can simultaneously track the positions of dozens of aircraft and other targets. It is similar to the U.S.-developed AWACS system.

There was no immediate reaction from the Chinese government.

Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh had championed the deal and wanted Israel to defy the Clinton administration and Congress, if necessary, to carry it out.

But in recent days, Israeli newspaper editorials, which once shared Sneh’s assertion that ending the sale would turn the Israeli arms industry into an international laughingstock, have concluded that Israel cannot afford to alienate its most important ally.

The cancellation is a blow to China’s attempts to modernize its armed forces to gain an advantage over rival Taiwan and command a larger presence in the Asian security arena. Although China’s army and military arsenal outweigh Taiwan’s forces in sheer numbers,Western defense analysts say the island has superior air and naval capabilities.

The Beijing regime had counted on the radar planes to strengthen its hand not only against Taiwan but also against any U.S. forces that might be pulled into a conflict across the Taiwan Strait.

At Camp David, Clinton met separately Wednesday with Barak and Arafat, Lockhart said. There were no planned meetings involving all three leaders, except for a dinner attended by them and their delegations.

Lockhart said there was a series of meetings involving lower-level negotiators, including sessions mediated by U.S. peace envoy Dennis B. Ross. Those meetings were designed to refine the issues that the leaders will face later in the summit.

“There has been real engagement today in dealing with the substantive issues,” Lockhart said.

Clinton plans to break away from the talks today to address the annual convention of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People in Baltimore and to attend a Medal of Honor ceremony on Capitol Hill. Lockhart said Secretary of State Madeleine Albright will assume Clinton’s role as mediator during the president’s absence.

“We have sufficient time to get this done,” Lockhart said. “The issues are well known to the parties. They’ve been working at this for 7 1/2 years now.”

Lockhart said the informal setting of Camp David, where the delegations do their business in sports shirts and scoot from one rustic cabin to another in golf carts, “is adding some value to these discussions.”

The cancellation of the aircraft sale also short-circuited a potentially sharp debate on Capitol Hill over the annual allocation of U.S. aid to Israel. Callahan had threatened to offer an amendment Wednesday to cut Israel’s foreign aid package if the sale went through.

Even though pro-Israel forces probably would have prevailed in the House if the amendment had come to a vote, many lawmakers were relieved that a showdown was averted. Callahan dropped his amendment when he learned of the cancellation.

“It’s not a vote I wanted my members to have to take,” said Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), the top Democrat on foreign aid spending issues. “We just didn’t want to have to clobber Israel over the head over unhappiness about China acquiring technology.”

While Barak’s action removed perhaps the largest potential obstacle to financing any peace agreement reached at Camp David, Clinton still would need to sell a specific funding proposal to Congress.

“Paying for agreements that work is one thing,” said House Appropriations Committee Chairman C.W. Bill Young (R-Fla.). “Paying for an agreement that’s [only] a photo-op is something else.”

Other key lawmakers have signaled their support for a post-summit aid package.

“We’re standing ready to do whatever is necessary to carry out the U.S. point of view,” Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) said earlier this week.

Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) is willing to consider “any reasonable request” for aid, according to his spokesman, John Czwartacki.

In Jerusalem, an influential organization of Jewish settlers, the Yesha Council, condemned the decision as a “surrender” to the Americans that will endanger Israel. “Barak is the most submissive prime minister in Israeli history,” the council said.

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Times staff writers Nick Anderson in Washington, Henry Chu in Beijing and Tracy Wilkinson in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

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The Summit Site

This week’s Mideast summit is at Camp David, a presidential retreat that gained international recognition in 1978 as the site of accords between Egypt and Israel. Here’s a look at the complex and its history:

FACT SHEET

Cost: $28,704 (1942)

Presidential commute: 2 hours by car, 30 minutes by helicopter

Elevation: 1,800 feet

Presidential accommodations: Office, living quarters, meeting hall and bomb shelter Most time spent by a president: 571 days, by Ronald Reagan

Least time spent by a president: 18 visits each by John F. Kennedy and Gerald Ford

Security: Surrounded by maximum security. Patrolled by Marines.

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TIMELINE

1942: Established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

1943: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill becomes the first foreign dignitary to visit.

1953: Renamed Camp David by President Eisenhower in honor of his father and grandson.

1973: President Richard Nixon meets with Soviet Party chief Leonid I. Brezhnev.

1978: Camp David accords reached between Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin.

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Sources: Encyclopaedia Britannica, World Book Encyclopedia, news and wire reports.

Compiled by JOHN TYRRELL/Los Angeles Times