The State Department correspondence, acquired and released by Wikileaks, provided a rare insight into the Israeli-U.S. strategic dialogue, Middle East Newsline reported. Over the last 25 years, the two countries have held annual strategic sessions that included the military and intelligence communities.

The Joint Political Military Group was said to have met to discuss efforts to maintain Israel's "qualitative military edge" over Middle East states. The cable said the U.S. delegation did not reply to Israeli requests for details of the Saudi arms request, approved by Congress in November 2010.

A key Israeli concern was that Saudi Arabia would deploy the advanced F-15 fighters in the northwestern base of Tabouk, about 150 kilometers from the Jewish state. The cable said Saudi Arabia was considering deploying its new fleet of Eurofighter Typhoons at Tabouk.

"The GOI expressed additional concerns about stationing these new aircraft at Tabuk airfield in the northwest corner of Saudi Arabia — close to the Israeli border," the cable said. "U.S. participants stated the USG understanding that this should not be an issue, as the Saudis are considering stationing new Typhoon aircraft at Tabuk."

The government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided not to formally oppose the U.S. arms deal with Riyad. The U.S. project included the sale of 84 F-15s as well as more than 120 Apache attack and S-70 utility helicopters to the Gulf Arab kingdom.

The cable also reported Israeli concern over U.S. arms sales to Jordan. The Israeli delegation was said to have raised the U.S. export of the AIM-120C advanced medium-range air-to-air missile to the Royal Jordanian Air Force.

"The GOI also raised AMRAAM sales to Jordan," the cable said. "U.S. participants explained that the new C-7 AMRAAM is an export version with capabilities similar to the C-5 version — and therefore provides little to no increase in capabilities."

The strategic session also included Israeli requests of advanced U.S. weapons. The cable said Israel was preparing for the U.S. delivery of the GBU-28, a 5,000-pound laser-guided conventional munition, designed to penetrate more than 20 feet of concrete. The United States has never reported the transfer of GBU-28 to Israel.

"Both sides then discussed the upcoming delivery of GBU-28 bunker busting bombs to Israel, noting that the transfer should be handled quietly to avoid any allegations that the USG is helping Israel prepare for a strike against Iran," the cable said.

---