Israel's Unauthorized Retransfer of U.S. Technology
Exposed
By Shawn L. Twing
Washington Report on Middle East Affairs
SEPTEMBER 1995, Pages 8, 100
Although allegations have been made on numerous
occasions linking Israel to the illegal re-export of U.S.-origin defense and dual-use
technology, there never has been an independently prepared, comprehensive and systematic
analysis of the phenomenon available to the general public--until now.
"Israel's Unauthorized Arms
Transfers," by Duncan Clarke, appearing in the summer issue of Foreign Policy
quarterly, demonstrates beyond a reasonable doubt that some American defense technology
received by Israel has been retransferred to other countries, some of which are
potentially hostile to the United States, in direct contravention of U.S. law. Clarke, a
professor of international relations at American University in Washington, DC, maintains
that these retransfers "have threatened American commercial interests, compromised
intelligence, upset regional stability, strained diplomatic relations, and confirmed the
U.S. national security bureaucracy's long-standing distrust of Israeli technology transfer
practices."
In order to understand the magnitude of Israel's
retransfer of U.S. technology, it is important to consider four factors. First, Israel
receives the largest sum of annual U.S. security assistance, $1.8 billion per year, and
has access to much of the most sensitive U.S. technology. Second, Israeli defense firms
which, according to Clarke, often re-export with the Israeli government's approval,
retransfer U.S. technology to countries to which the United States will not sell (e.g.,
pre-Mandela South Africa) or who are potential adversaries of the United States (e.g.,
China). Third, Israel's defense industry produces nearly identical versions of U.S.-origin
equipment which it then sells on the world market in direct competition with U.S. defense
firms. Finally, the complaints made by U.S. officials responsible for safeguarding
America's technological secrets fall on deaf ears in Congress, where domestic political
maneuvering takes precedence over protecting American national security and commercial
interests.
Israel's annual security assistance budget from
the United States helps subsidize the Israeli defense industry, making it heavily
dependent on the U.S. for its economic survival. The 1995 Foreign Assistance Act, for
example, stipulates that Israel receive no less than $625 million in U.S. taxpayer grant
money in 1995 to research, develop and procure "advanced weapons systems" and
"defense articles" in the United States and in Israel. This subsidy, combined
with Israel's willingness to re-export U.S. defense technology, gives Israeli defense
companies a substantial edge over potential competitors, including defense companies in
the United States. By heavily subsidizing the research side of the development process,
providing what are effectively working prototypes from which the Israeli firms can build,
and allowing Israel to retransfer sensitive technology, the United States government has
increased Israel's ability to compete in the international market exponentially.
Perhaps the worst aspect of Israel's
contravention of U.S. export law involves the end recipients of U.S. technology. South
Africa and China, the "principal recipients of unauthorized Israeli re-exports of
U.S.-origin defense technology," according to Clarke, have received substantial
amounts of sensitive U.S. technology from Israel. South Africa has acquired anti-tank
missiles, aircraft engines, armored personnel carriers and recoilless rifles. China has
obtained thermal imaging tank sights, air-to-air missile technology, assistance with
"new generation" fighter aircraft (based partly on the largely U.S.-funded
Israeli Lavi fighter) and even Patriot missile technology. Not only is most of the
evidence for these allegations based on information deemed "reliable" by
"virtually all policy and intelligence officials who follow technology transfer
issues," it was partially substantiated with physical evidence when, ironically,
U.S.-origin technology was found in captured Iraqi tank sights that had been re-exported
from Israel to China, and then to Iraq.
Hard Evidence
In an interview with the
Washington Report,
Dr. Clarke made it clear that normally such hard evidence of retransfers is nearly
impossible to find. However, the massive loss of Iraq's military equipment during the Gulf
war made it possible for U.S. military inspectors to get possession of the gun sights. (An
earlier piece of tangible evidence linking Israel to illegal retransfers involved U.S.
cluster bombs which Israel sold to Ethiopia. They were found in Sudan.)
The retransfer of Patriot missile technology is
another example of alleged Israeli actions that directly threaten U.S. security interests.
If the Patriot, which is a ground-to-air missile designed to intercept and destroy
incoming tactical missiles, was retransferred to China, "this would have enabled
China to modify its M-9 and M-11 ballistic missiles to prevent U.S. systems from
intercepting them," thus eliminating one of America's crucial lines of defense
against attack from a theater missile delivery system. Although there has been a lengthy
dispute over the credibility of the evidence suggesting Israel's role in the retransfer of
Patriot technology (which Clarke discusses in detail), it appears that at the very least
Israel gave China "technical data" about the Patriot which it could have used to
modify its ballistic missiles.
Another issue relating to Israel's retransfer of
U.S. technology is the virtual duplication of U.S. defense products or the incorporation
of significant amounts of U.S.-origin technology in Israeli-made defense items by Israeli
firms, which then are sold on the international market in competition with the original
American products, or sold to countries to which the United States is unwilling to sell
either because they are potential threats to the U.S. or because of their human rights
record. Among the examples Clarke cites are the Israeli-made Python-3 air-to-air missile
(based largely on the U.S.-made AIM-9L Sidewinder); Israel's Popeye air-to-ground missile,
which is "virtually identical" to the HAVE-NAP missile made by the U.S. firm
Martin-Marietta; the STAR cruise missile that the "CIA believed Israel was marketing
[to] China"; and the U.S.-funded, Israeli-made Arrow anti-tactical ballistic missile,
"which is unofficially opposed by the U.S. Army, many at Defense, the intelligence
community, ACDA (Arms Control and Disarmament Agency), and some offices in State."
All of these are examples in Clarke's article of how U.S. taxpayers subsidize the Israeli
defense industry, which then competes unfairly with U.S. companies, eventually costing
American jobs. Whatever their motives, Israeli defense firms, with Israeli governmental
approval, frequently ignore U.S. re-export laws as well as American national security
concerns, and continue to sell advanced American weaponry to whomever they please with
little or no reaction from the U.S. government.
A "Black Hole"
With a situation as frustrating as this one, it
is easy to apply the blame for inaction on the U.S. government as a whole. However, many
individuals within the executive branch who bear the responsibility for monitoring
technology retransfer are working hard to discover and document the violations and report
them to Congress. At least nine reports describing Israeli violations have been sent to
Congress, two of them in January of this year. Unfortunately, none has had any effect.
Instead, Clarke reports, the strength of the pro-Israel lobby on Capitol Hill creates what
one observer calls a "black hole" into which all of these reports fall because
of the belief among members of Congress that taking a strong, critical stand toward
Israel's misbehavior "could harm them politically."
Nor, apparently, is relief in sight. Part of
Israel's reward for signing the 1993 Declaration of Principles with the Palestine
Liberation Organization (PLO) has been the creation of two U.S. governmental groups
"to facilitate technology flow." Their activities, if history is an accurate
indicator, may more than offset the efforts of U.S. defense experts to protect America's
military and commercial secrets by increasing the opportunities for more illegal
retransfers of U.S. military and dual-use technology to third parties.
Further, the Clinton administration has been
extremely lax in its handling of Israel's violations of U.S. law, and in fact has
effectively rewarded the Israelis for their misbehavior by relaxing curbs on the transfer
of sensitive technology to Israel, despite the fact that Israel violates U.S. defense
re-export laws more frequently and with more sensitive technology than any other country.
Overall, it appears Israel's persistent abuse of its special relationship with Washington
will continue into the foreseeable future. Israeli officials are pursuing short-term
financial gains. American officials are concerned about domestic political repercussions.
Both, it seems, are ignoring long-term security concerns.
Shawn L. Twing is the news editor of
the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.
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