Gates Reassures Israel About Arms Sales in Gulf

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TEL AVIV, April 19 — Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said today that he had reassured Israel about a planned major American arms sale to Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf countries, saying that the sale would not threaten Israel’s military superiority and that it is necessary to counter the threat from Iran.

Speaking to reporters after talks with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and other top Israeli officials, Mr. Gates said that he stressed the point that Israel faced a greater threat from Iran than from the Arab countries that are to receive the sophisticated American weaponry.

Though the arms package has not been described publicly by American officials, they said that Israel expressed the most concern about one element of the package, satellite-guided munitions that are to be sold to Saudi Arabia for the first time. Israel has received the highly accurate bombs from the United States for years.

Mr. Gates said he made clear that the United States would help Israel maintain its military advantage over its Arab neighbors, and urged Israel not to oppose the proposed sale, which the Bush Administration sees as a way to counter Iran’s growing strength.

He said he told Israeli officials that they “needed to take into consideration the overall strategic environment” in the Middle East.

Israeli officials are themselves worried about Iran, especially because of its nuclear program. They have pressed Mr. Gates during his two-day visit here on the need to halt Iran’s progress toward building a nuclear weapon.

Mr. Gates said after meeting on Wednesday with the Israeli defense minister, Amir Peretz, that they were in agreement that diplomatic pressure to halt the Iranian nuclear program was working

But Mr. Peretz took a harder stance, saying that Iran’s leaders want “to destroy Israel.” While Mr. Gates pointedly emphasized the diplomatic path, Mr. Peretz said Israel could not rule out other options, an apparent allusion to possible military action against Iran.

“The diplomatic track is preferable, and it must be exhausted, but it is still not able to remove other options from the table,” Mr. Peretz told reporters at a joint news conference with Mr Gates. Mr. Peretz added, “We expect that the U.S. and the world will stand by us regarding the Iran nuclear issue.”

Israeli officials say it is vital to end the Iranian nuclear program this year or next, before it has a viable nuclear weapon.

The Bush administration has not ruled out military action against Iran, either, but Mr. Gates’s comments in Israel were his most direct explanation of his reluctance to consider a strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Mr. Gates said that he did not discuss military options with Israel. “Clearly, if you think that the program is further away from being irreversible or containable, you have more time for the diplomatic process to work,” he said. “I had the impression that at this point they are comfortable with letting the diplomatic process work out.”

Regarding the planned arms sale to Saudi Arabia and other Arab gulf states, Mr. Gates said he told Israel that if the United States did not make such sales, Russia and other countries could.

Bush administration officials said they are worried that Israel may turn to its allies in Congress to block the planned sale, though so far Israel has registered its opposition fairly quietly.

Mr. Gates’ visit to Israel was the first by an American defense secretary since the Clinton Administration.