Transformed IDF

MA'ARIV 1/27/99: "Chief of Staff Sha'ul Mufaz met last week with the inner cabinet ministers and presented a phased plan for transforming the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] from a "local army," whose main activities are along Israel's borders with the Arab states to a "global army," with a long reach and a modern strategy, capable of operating in far-off Islamic countries like Iran, Pakistan, and Kazakhstan.

This is revealed by the Foreign Report, in the main story of tomorrow's edition. According to the British weekly, the chief of staff is slated to appear before the inner cabinet again, and as soon as the ministers approve the plan, it will enter the implementation stage as soon as next year.

The Foreign Report describes the plan as "incredibly ambitious and radical." The plan, as detailed by the British weekly, includes four stages.

The first stage will include creating an intelligence infrastructure in countries that do not have a border with Israel. The Mosad will also play a decisive role in this stage.

The Foreign Report says that the IDF's Intelligence Branch will also receive higher priority and huge sums will be invested in sophisticated equipment, state of the art surveillance devices, warning systems, electronic warfare, computers, and spying equipment.

The IDF will launch the second stage of the plan two years after the first stage is completed. At the end of the second stage, the chief of staff will be able to receive highly valuable intelligence information in real time.

Great efforts will be invested to enable the immediate transfer of data out of the target countries without any delays.

The report discloses that the third stage already includes the induction of the F-15I. Israel, it is asserted, has installed advanced electronic systems on the US aircraft.

The Foreign Report explains that the F-15I is being reserved for operations such as bombing missions deep inside Iran, with the plane being able to fly back to Israel without needing to land or refuel in mid-air.

At the same time, it is claimed, Israel is forming an airborne infantry unit modeled on the elite British SAS unit. If the need arises, the Israeli unit will be flown to distant locations, and will have the capability to operate there.

The Foreign Report says that the fourth stage calls for the integration of a new command that will receive all the intelligence data and will be responsible for the operation of the F-15I aircraft and the special infantry troops.

Israeli officers will also start cooperating with their British and US counterparts at this stage.

The Foreign Report claims that Israel believes that the British and US Governments are the only ones that share its security interests and are prepared to fight terrorism even far removed from their borders."

     

France, Israel & Lebanon

London's AL QUDS AL ARABI 1/27/99: "Informed diplomatic sources have told Al-Quds al-'Arabi that the talks which [former Israeli Defense Minister] Yitzhaq Mordekhay said are taking place between Lebanon and Israel through a third party on the withdrawal from the south are in fact the outcome of a French initiative on the withdrawal from the Jazzin area in southern Lebanon, which is under the control of the Israel-backed Lebanese militias.

The sources said that France some time ago put forward a mediation aimed at ensuring the withdrawal of the Israel-backed Lebanese militias from Jazzin, because of the special nature of he area and particularly since it has a Christian majority and does not come under Resolution 425, and consequently a mediation in this context would not affect Lebanon's commitment to linking the Lebanese and Syrian tracks and Lebanon's position which rejects the security arrangements that Israeli has suggested in return for a withdrawal from the south.

The sources revealed that this mediation began a few years ago and resulted in the opening of the Kafr Falus crossing after the militias withdrew from the Kafr Falus area toward Anan in the Jazzin area early last year.

There was another withdrawal by the militias last fall from several positions in the Anan region toward Rum in the Jazzin area, as result of which a vast area is now outside any security control and without the army being deployed in it.

The sources revealed that the United States is aware of the French efforts concerning Jazzin which are taking place in coordination with it, given that Washington has ended its efforts aimed at resuming the talks on the Syrian-Israeli track despite the fact that the general impression is that there are no efforts in this context.

The informed circles revealed that there were indications that the talks might have resumed on the Syrian-Israeli track and the Israeli-Lebanese track next February and March but that the early Israeli elections may have put an end to these efforts without putting an end to attempts to pave the way for their resumption.

The circles stated that these dates were conveyed to the official quarters on the premise that the talks would resume from where they left off, in line with Syria's demands.

In this context, after the Israeli decision to hold early elections, Washington has made diligent efforts with the states concerned to ease the tension in the south and particularly to put an end to the Katyusha attacks on northern Israel and the border areas to ensure that the situation does not erupt on the southern front and matters do not go back to square one."

US Defence Intelligence Agency suspects Israel

THE WASHINGTON TIMES 1/28/99: "The Defense Intelligence Agency suspects Israel shared with China restricted U.S. weapons technology obtained during a joint U.S.-Israeli effort to build a battlefield laser gun, The Washington Times has learned.

Israeli government agents also have tried for the past two years to obtain embargoed weapons know-how from U.S. defense contractors involved in the Tactical High-Energy Laser (THEL) program, said officials familiar with a Pentagon intelligence report on the issue.

The report said officials of the Israeli government armament agency Rafael obtained some restricted technology from a U.S. defense contractor involved in the program in 1996. The unauthorized transfers prompted TRW Space and Electronics Group, the main contractor for the program, to halt further data transfers to the Israelis.

DIA suspicions about the technology leakage are based on reports from U.S. contractor employees in Israel who spotted Chinese technicians working secretly with one of the Israeli companies involved in the laser weapon program, and also from a Chinese official who knew details about it, said the officials who declined to be named.

"If the Chinese are seeking this technology in Israel, it's another episode in their worldwide effort to purloin Western technology," said Gary Milhollin, director of the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control.

The $131 million joint laser weapon program was launched in 1996 in an effort to rapidly build a weapon to knock out Katyusha rockets fired by Hezbollah guerrillas based in southern Lebanon. The system consists of a pointer-tracker, a laser, and a battle management system.

It is being developed by TRW, two other U.S. contractors -- Ball Aerospace & Technology and Contraves Brashear Systems -- along with four Israeli firms. Israel expects to field the first anti-rocket laser unit later this year in northern Israel.

As part of a memorandum signed by officials from both countries in July 1996, the lasers are supposed to have built-in software limiting their range.

The system is designed for knocking out 122mm Katyusha rockets, which have ranges of several miles, and mortar and artillery. The agreement also restricts transferring the technology to other countries.

The Israelis have been trying to obtain the source codes for the laser's target selection computer software to increase its range so the weapons can be used to knock out other targets such as short-range missiles or aircraft.

The DIA said if Israel obtains the embargoed software coding used to target the laser gun, it could "fire at targets other than those permitted by the Memorandum of Agreement with Washington," and it would allow "a controlled technology to proliferate."

"Acquiring and modifying the source codes would help Tel Aviv overcome the mission-limiting U.S. engineering built into the THEL system," the report said.

Some DIA officials were alarmed by several reports that Chinese weapons technicians are working secretly at an Israeli Aircraft Industries (IAI) plant involved in the laser gun program. IAI is working on the THEL system's radar, fire control assemblies and sensors for its pointer-tracker.

According to DIA, Chinese officials were seen at the IAI Systems and Space Technology Division facility outside Tel Aviv twice between July and October 1997. The U.S. employees were told the "Chinese presence" was supposed to be kept secret from the United States. On a third occasion, the U.S. workers at the plant were "rushed" out of the IAI plant after seeing Chinese workers there, the report said.

The report stated that Israeli Aircraft Industries in the past offered transfers of restricted weapons technology to foreign customers in an effort to conclude weapons deals.

"IAI has transferred technology to China, possibly including U.S.-supplied technology," the report said. The DIA said it could not confirm that Chinese officials at the Israeli factory were working on lasers.

But the agency said its suspicions were bolstered by a Chinese scientist who had revealed details about the THEL system and asked for more information about the weapon, once called Nautilus, during an international symposium on lasers.

"Beijing is working on high-energy deuterium fluoride lasers most likely for weapons applications and has acquired technology in this area from Russia," the report said.

Spokesman for TRW, Ball Aerospace and Contraves Brashear referred calls to the U.S. Army Missile and Space Command in Alabama, which had no immediate comment. A spokeswoman for the Israeli Embassy also had no comment.

Officials said the reference to earlier leaks of U.S. technology from Israel to China involved Beijing's acquisition of U.S. Patriot anti-missile interceptor technology in 1992.

The Bush administration investigated whether Israel illegally transferred Patriot know-how, a probe first disclosed by The Times. The investigation failed to confirm intelligence reports indicating one of Washington's closest allies had shared sensitive weapons data with China.

CIA Director Robert Gates said in 1993 that China had acquired the Patriot technology, but government officials were divided over whether Israel had secretly supplied it.

Regarding recent efforts to acquire restricted THEL software, the DIA said that after Rafael was denied access to the source codes, the Israeli representatives demanded further software transfers from the U.S. subcontractor, and also tried to "pressure" TRW into having the State Department grant an export license, the report said.

The Israeli program manager and an electronics engineer also tried to illegally obtain software codes and details on the THEL computer controller, according to the DIA. In a third case, an Israeli Defense Ministry consultant tried to acquire "tracking algorithms" used in the radar focal plane array used by the laser gun's pointer-tracker.

Initial requests for the source code were made on May 1, 1997, and after the request was flatly denied, the consultant set up a meeting with TRW official and again demanded the codes for the weapon's software.

"I have no comment on intelligence matters," Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon said. A spokesman for the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command in Huntsville, Ala., said he was unaware of the Israeli efforts to obtain embargoed THEL technology or the improper release of data."

Opinion:
DIA allegations are Clinton political screws

ARUTZ7 1/28/99--Commentary by IMRA publisher Aaron Lerner: "...Israel is passing on American military secrets to China. At least that's the story someone in the Clinton administration fed to the Washington Times.

We have had such charges in the past so many times that I have lost track. What does it signal? That the administration wants to turn the screws a little on the current Israeli government without facing any possible political costs.

There is an interesting side note to this episode. Besides claiming that Israel has shared some of the technology from the Nautilus laser defense system with China, the leakers also charge, via The Washington Post, that Israel is trying to break the code that controls the range of the American laser device.

The Clinton administration is allowing Israel to acquire the capability to shoot down Katyusha rockets. But the Clinton administration doesn't want Israel to be able to shoot down missiles and fighter jets planes with a laser so the controls are locked in to a limited range.

Funny, I would have thought that the Clinton Administration, that promised, as past administrations, to maintain Israel's edge, would be happy to have Israel develop a defensive weapon that could burn incoming enemy missiles and jets out of the sky."

ZINC comment on DIA allegations

ZINC EDITOR'S NOTE:

The US accusation that Israel is selling missile technology to China has surfaced during Israel's national political campaign where the US administration would clearly prefer the Labor challenger to the Likud incumbent. President Bush really does want Yitzchak Rabin to beat Yitzchak Shamir-- hey, wait! That was 1992! This is 1998! Is history repeating itself? (Yes.)

By the way, after a thorough and lengthy investigation, the 1992 charges remained unproven. Also: the Israel-China technology transfer accusations make it even more unlikely that, at this time, Jonathan Pollard would either receive clemency or be paroled.

Mr. Clinton is surprised! There are terrorists on the street?

THE JERUSALEM POST 1/29/99: "The Clinton administration was "surprised" at a memorandum released by the Prime Minister's Office which claims that five "terrorists involved in the murder of Americans" have recently been released by the PA, a US official said yesterday.

In the memorandum, the government stated that Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat "has been releasing dozens of terrorists from prison on the occasion of Id al-Fitr."

Among those released, according to the government, were five "senior Hamas members" who had planned or taken part in terror attacks in which American citizens had been killed.

Those named in the memorandum are Jihad Suwiti and Arafat Kawasmeh, who allegedly assisted the mastermind behind the 1996 attack on bus No. 18 in Jerusalem in which three American citizens were among the 60 killed; Hassam Alimani and Talal Baz, who allegedly assisted the masterminds behind the July 30, 1997 bombing in Jerusalem in which an American was among the 15 killed; and Bashir Daher, who allegedly assisted in both the July 30 bombing and in another Jerusalem attack on September 4, in which one of the five people killed was a 14-year-old American girl.

The US official said that he was not sure "the Israelis had their facts straight," and that the charges are being looked into, adding that even if the facts are right, the US should have been notified before a public memorandum was released.

West Bank Preventive Security chief Jibril Rajoub called the memorandum "nonsense," and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu "a liar." Rajoub said that while he had not yet seen the list of names in the memorandum, the decision of whom to release had been made on a "professional level," and none of the prisoners let out of jail had blood on their hands.

"We did not release one person who killed. Not someone who killed an American, not someone who killed an Israeli. This is a matter of principle for us, as we are committed to the Wye agreement," he said.

The government stood by its account, with one senior official arguing that the Americans "don't need us to tell them what is going on. Some of these releases happened two weeks ago, and the CIA should know about them."