Gates allays Israeli fears over U.S. arms to Saudis | Politics | Reuters

Gates allays Israeli fears over U.S. arms to Saudis | Politics | Reuters

Gates allays Israeli fears over U.S. arms to Saudis
Thu Apr 19, 2007 8:50AM EDT
By Andrew Gray

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates sought on Thursday to allay Israeli concerns about Washington's possible sale of advanced weaponry to Saudi Arabia, arguing that friendly Gulf states are a bulwark against Iran.

Israeli officials have raised objection to the planned transfer by the Bush administration of a major arms package to Riyadh. The New York Times reported that the sale would include precision-guided bombs of the kind already in Israel's arsenal.

Gates, who was on a two-day visit to Israel, said he had reaffirmed a long-standing U.S. commitment to maintaining Israel's military superiority in the region but suggested fears over Washington bolstering its Gulf Arab allies were misplaced.

"I thought they needed to look at the circumstances in terms of the overall strategic environment and in terms of the concerns of their neighbors, more with Iran perhaps, than with Israel," Gates told reporters after talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.

The United States and Israel say Iran's nuclear program is designed to produce bombs, a charge denied by Tehran.

The Bush administration is keen to reassure Sunni Arab allies, anxious that Shi'ite-dominated Iran is gaining influence in the region, that Washington will stand by them.

That spells possible complications for the U.S. alliance with Israel, a nation still formally shunned by most of the Arab world. But there have been signs of rapprochement given efforts by Riyadh to initiate a comprehensive Israeli-Arab peace deal.

Asked about the Saudi arms report, Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz voiced confidence in Washington finding a solution.

"I have no doubt that the strategic understanding that exists between the United States and Israel will ultimately be the decisive factor," " he said after meeting Gates on Thursday.

Gates argued Israel might be best served with the United States, rather than an alternative power with perhaps weaker ties to Israel, arming Gulf Arabs.

"I am confident the Russians would be very happy to come sell weapons in the region and there probably are others as well," Gates said.

Israel, which is assumed to have the Middle East's only nuclear arsenal, has hinted it could resort to military force as a last-ditch means of preventing Iran from attaining the bomb.

Such actions would likely require U.S. acquiescence and risk alienating the Bush administration's Arab allies.

Gates reiterated a U.S. belief that recent U.N. Security Council sanctions designed to strip Tehran of nuclear technologies with bomb-making potential appeared to be working.

He also denied Israeli media reports that Israeli officials had asked him to discuss a joint military option against Iran.

"They did not raise that," he said. "I had the impression that, at this point, they also are comfortable with letting the diplomatic process go forward."