Ministry of Defense director-general Amos Yaron confirmed today to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that there are problems between Israel and the US Department of Defense relating to the sale of weapons systems to China.
"The crisis with the US and China can be solved, but it will take a month or two. We are in the midst of discussions with the Americans, there were many reports about this, mostly erroneous," Yaron said. "The talks are about the sale of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) replacement parts, and no more than that."
Yaron denied reports that US officials had allegedly demanded that he be fired. "Information about the crisis with the US is classified, but we must do all that we can to convince Washington that nothing has been damaged, not US interests, not US law, and not US policy."
Yaron's appearance before the committee today was a tense event, and his refusal to go into detail about the deal raised the ire of four Knesset members, who left the meeting in protest, and delayed proceedings for about an hour.
The special meeting was convened following media reports about a conflict between Israel and the US, and the lack of information available about the UAV upgrade deal between Israel and China, due to a security blackout. The US requested that Israel not return the upgraded UAVs to China.
At the outset of today's meeting, Yaron made clear that "there is definitely a crisis between the Israeli Ministry of Defense and the Pentagon, which must be solved quickly."
Yaron said, "We are trying to make clear to the Americans that the idea that their perceptions, which have become reality for them, are baseless. Israel relays answers that attempt to allay the Americans' fears; all center around the clear fact that Israel did not break any US law, and did not contravene any obligation to the US."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on Wednesday, December 29, 2004