Word: 15s
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Israelis took those decisions with equanimity. Said Begin in Jerusalem: "If somebody decides that he has got some time to try to solve the problem of the special conflict between Israel and the Arabs, so what can Israel do about it?" As for the upgrading of the Saudi F-15s, Shamir rather mildly remarked, "If we cannot stop it, we are eager to maintain the balance, the qualitative balance, of forces between us and the Arab countries." What he meant was soon apparent: the Reagan Administration said it would sell Israel 15 more F-15s for its air force...
...Even last week there were ruffled feelings over Washington's announcement that it would furnish Cairo with an impressive array of sophisticated weapons, including 40 F-16 fighter jets and 250 M-60 tanks. The U.S. also agreed in principle to sell Egypt an unspecified number of F-15s, the most advanced fighters in the West's arsenal...
...promised access to the F-15s was hailed by the Egyptians as proof of their "equal footing" with Israel as faithful allies of the U.S. in the Middle East. In addition to asking Congress to approve this military aid package, involving $4 billion in credits over the next five years, the Carter Administration plans to propose an extra $200 million in aid to help Cairo finance the weaponry...
...announcement of the arms agreement prompted Israeli Premier Menachem Begin to voice reservations about "the quantity and quality of these arms." He seemed especially concerned about the F-15s. The Israelis clearly feared that such advanced weaponry could be used against them should Sadat ever be ousted from power and Egypt revert to an anti-Israeli stance...
...State Department had no comment yesterday on whether Israel's use of F-15s over Lebanon violates U.S. restrictions limiting the aircraft to self-defense missions...