Sources inform “Globes” that Israel's attempts to convince the US administration to allow Israel to participate in the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program have failed.
The US maintained its refusal to allow Israel to participate in the JSF's development, the largest ever fighter development program.
Ministry of Defense director general Amos Yaron left for talks in Washington after it became apparent that the US was disinclined to allow Israel to participate in the JSF, out of concern that classified technology might be leaked to countries unfriendly to the US, such as China. Israel has defense relations with numerous third world countries with whom the US does not maintain defense relations.
Israel is considering level three "informed partner" status in the JSF, the lowest category, at a cost of $200 million, which allows access to JSF project information in order to better understand and evaluate the utility of the JSF for their use, but not to influence requirements.
Ministry of Defense spokeswoman Rachel Neidak-Ashkenazi confirmed that the talks in the US failed to yield results, adding they would be resumed shortly.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on August 15, 2002