Pentagon sees progress on U.S.-Israel arms talks

Tough issues remain in a dispute between Israel and the United States over Israeli arms sales to China, but talks to resolve them are not stalemated, a Pentagon official said Friday.

Pentagon spokesman Lawrence Di Rita cited good progress in the talks but refused to put a timetable on the negotiations, which were delayed last week when Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz canceled a planned trip to Washington to take part in ongoing talks.

The United States, Israel’s most important ally and provider of US$2 billion in annual defense aid, has restricted arms deals with Israel in the dispute, with Washington demanding that Israel adhere to tight regulations on the transfer of military technology.

Washington is concerned that Israel’s sales of Harpy unmanned attack drones and other technology to Beijing could tilt the regional balance of power and boost China’s military strength, which could threaten Taiwan.

“I have talked to folks who are involved, who think this is going to be resolved, in the time-honored phrase, sooner rather than later. They don’t think that this is something that is going to take forever,” Di Rita told reporters in response to questions at the Pentagon on Friday.

“That was an assessment by people involved as of the last day or two ... There still is a general sense that they will probably get something done,” he said.

Mofaz’s trip to Washington had been expected in the first half of August.

Washington, a long-time partner in Israeli weapons sales, began freezing mutual-security projects and delivery of defense equipment to the Jewish state last month following the arms deal with China.

The Pentagon spokesman denied that the sensitive talks were stalemated.

“I wouldn’t describe them as that (stalemated) at all. There has been good progress,” said Di Rita, who refused to go into details of the discussions, which also involve the U.S. State Department.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz has reported that the United States wants Israel’s parliament to pass a bill within 18 months that would tighten its monitoring of military exports, as well as an apology from Mofaz.

Washington torpedoed Israel’s multibillion-dollar sale of Phalcon strategic airborne radar systems to China in 2000, citing fears it could upset the regional balance of power.

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