Israel concerned about Iran's missiles, not Egypt's
|
SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Tuesday, July 17, 2001
TEL AVIV Ñ Israel has acknowledged that Egypt is developing a
variant of the North Korean No-Dong intermediate-range missile, but stressed
that this does not threaten the Jewish state over the short-term.
Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer acknowledged Egypt's
efforts to produce the No-Dong variant. Ben-Eliezer refused to provide
details, but said the issue is being discussed in what he termed were
diplomatic channels between Jerusalem and Washington.
Instead of Egypt, Israel has focused on the Iranian threat. Ben-Eliezer
said Israel is stressing efforts to stop Iran's Shihab-3 missile program, Middle East Newsline reported.
The defense minister said Iran, with help from Iran, plans to install a
chemical or biological warhead on the missile.
"They have not finished the Shihab-3 tests," Ben-Eliezer said. "But the
Shihab will take chemical and bacteriological warheads."
"We are not exactly worried by the latest developments in Egypt,"
Ben-Eliezer said. "We are not the only neighbor of Egypt."
Defense officials said Israel has assessed that Egypt was
not planning an attack on the Jewish state. Cairo's restraint, they said,
would apply even if Iraq and Syria launch a war against Israel.
The Israeli military assessment is that Iraqi forces would be destroyed
long before they arrive at the Jordanian or Syrian border with Israel. They
said this would deter Egypt's military, which at most would move some units
into the Sinai peninsula.
Israeli sources said the Egyptian No-Dong issue has been raised by the
United States with Egypt. The result, they said, appears to be a suspension
of plans by Egypt to import 50 North Korean engines for Cairo's
intermediate-range missile program.
The Bush administration and Congress had warned that delivery of the
North Korean engines could result in a backlash in Washington that could
affect the annual $1.3 billion in U.S. military aid to Egypt, the sources
said.
Since 1999, Egypt has accelerated intermediate-range missile
development based on the North Korean No-Dong in a program that includes
Libya. A U.S. defense source termed the Egyptian program as the Al Fatah
and said it also includes technology and components from China and Iraq.
"Following the Iranian model, Egypt appears to be seeking the
technological capabilities to produce its own missiles," a report released
last month by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and authored by Gerald
Steinberg, a leading Israeli researcher on nonproliferation, said. "These
activities have reportedly led to tension between Washington and Cairo."
|