NEW DELHI, April 6: The United States has persuaded Israel into postponing a billion dollar defence deal with India involving the sale of Israeli Phalcon Awacs radar warning system, saying that at this juncture it could trigger tensions between India and Pakistan, news reports said on Sunday.
“Under American pressure, Israel grudgingly has agreed to suspend the sale of an advanced airborne radar warning system to India,” India’s right-wing extremist Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) reported on its website, quoting the Forward Magazine.
“Washington fears that the sale will increase tensions between India and Pakistan, as the Bush administration wages war in Iraq and keeps a watchful eye on North Korea,” the report said.
It said Israeli sources in Washington told the Forward that Israel has agreed to defer the $1 billion sale of the Phalcon Awacs system, but has not cancelled it.
“The American request comes as the Bush administration is asking Congress to approve a generous aid package for Israel, featuring a $1 billion grant to cover defence-related expenses and $9 billion in loan guarantees,” the RSS report said.
According to the Israeli business daily Globes, the United States conditioned the $1 billion grant on Israel’s suspending the deal, the RSS report said.
The American request is reminiscent of one made by the Clinton administration in August 2000, when it pushed Israel to cancel a $250 million sale of the Phalcon to China.
Then, the United States was worried that the early warning system could be used by China against American forces in case of a military conflict over Taiwan.
Israel unsuccessfully attempted to use its friends on Capitol Hill to beat back the administration’s opposition. The short showdown strained relations between Jerusalem and Washington, and between Israel and China,” the report said.
It added that Israel had to financially compensate the Chinese.
“The India deal is somewhat different. Israeli sources say that the United States, having previously granted its approval, is only asking Israel to put the deal on hold, not to cancel it,” the Forward report said.
