Democratic Palestine : 5 (ص 25)
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- Democratic Palestine : 5 (ص 25)
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Zionism’s Global Role
In our last issue we printed the first part of a study written by Steve Goldfield and entitled «The Israeli Role
in United States Global Strategy». This is a continuation of the study. (The study also includes a section
on Israeli arms sales in Africa; the part dealing with South Africa was printed in «Democratic Palestine»
no. 3 and we are omitting the section on Israeli relations with other African countries as it coincided
roughly with an article we wrote in no. 2. For this reason you will see a jump in the footnote numbers.)
As domestic demand for military supplies increased (i.e.
Israel was fighting more wars), the attraction of selling to
foreign markets to pay the huge costs of the Israeli ‘military
grew apace. Because the major industrial powers produce
their own arms, the primary Israeli market has been in Asia,
Africa, and Latin America.
Israel’s Arms Customers
When he was first appointed defense minister in mid-
1981, Ariel Sharon moved to take «control of all aspects of
Israeli arms sales and purchases apparently because he
wants to gain political benefit for Israel from its sales policy»,
according to the Financial Times.”
Asia
The Israelis shipped 20,000 Galil rifles and an unknown
number of Uzis to Thailand just after the army reimposed a
bloody dictatorship in 1976.’’ Since that time Israelis have also
been training the Thai army. One Israeli involved in the arms
industry reported, «When | went past the Thai King’s palace
recently, | was pleased to see that his majesty’s body guards
were carrying them [Uzis]». Thailand has also bought small
transport aircraft and 155 mm artillery along with training.
Since at least 1970, Israeli trainers have operated in Singa-
pore, especially with the armored corps.’® Singapore was the
first Asian purchaser of the Gabriel missile.’? In 1979, the U.S.
reportedly arranged the Israeli sale of fourteen Skyhawk attack
planes to Indonesia.°° Similar arrangements with South Korea
and the Philippines have been reported.®' The Christian Sci-
ence Monitor quoted a source estimating at least 100 million
dollars in Israeli arms sales to Southeast Asia in 1981.8
The oldest and closest Israeli ally in eastern Asia is
Taiwan. Not only has Taiwan bought millions of dollars of
Israeli weapons, such as Gabriel naval rockets, Shafrir mis-
siles, and light weapons,® but Israel and Taiwan have cooper-
ated in developing new weapons, not least nuclear weapons
with South Africa.
Israeli arms, including Sherman tanks, have been flowing
to the Lebanese Phalangists for many years. Unlike most
worldwide sales, aid to the Phalangists has been a gift. The
Phalangists, in turn, held training camps for a German neo-
Nazi group responsible for the September 1980 Oktoberfest
massacre in Munich, where 53 were killed and 215 wounded
by a bomb. A former Red Brigades leader in Italy, Petrizio
Peci, charges his group was offered but refused arms by Israeli
intelligence in return for information on PLO activities in Italy.®
In Iran, Israeli advisers counseled the Shah to use «tanks
and machine guns against the people» in 1978.8 Later
Ha’aretz reported that the loss of the Iranian military purchases
cost the Israelis $225 milion in 1978 and a similar amount in
1979.°” Two thousand workers were dismissed from the artil-
lery manufacturer Sultam in Yaken’am «because of the Iranian
revolution» .°8
The Israeli arms manufacturers managed to recoup this
loss, however. Israeli hostility to Iraq has stimulated a resump-
tion of sales to Iran.®° Teheran requested $200 million worth of
equipment after the war with Iraq began.® The Iranians stuck
with U.S. weapons and no spare parts, apparently had
nowhere else to go. The Carter administration asked the
Israelis «to please hold off» until the hostages were released,
but the Israelis had already provided 250 spare tires for lran’s
U.S.-made F-4 Phantom jets in October 1980.%' Pierre
Salinger, Paris bureau chief for ABC News, showed documen-
tation for the $330,000 deal, «including copies of the Iranian
bank transfers to the Israeli defense ministry’s buying mission
at the Bank Hapoalim [«Workers’ Bank»] in Zurich», according
to the Village Voice.°? ABC News also reported Israeli sales of
106mm recoilless rifles to lran.°? On July 18, 1981, a CL 44
turbo-prop, hired from a small Argentine air firm named Trans-
porte Aereo Rioplatense to carry 360 tons of U.S. arms from
Tel Aviv to Teheran, strayed off course over the Turkish border
and crashed in Soviet Armenia.% The cargo plane, using the
code name « Tango November», was returning from the third of
twelve scheduled missions when it was intercepted by two
MIG-25's. The Sunday Times of London reported this was a
part of a $27.9 million Israeli deal with Iran to supply spare
parts for American-made tanks.%
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