THE PALM BEACH POST SUNDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1991 11A
Sanctions waived against Israel for sale to S. Africa
Washington Post News Service
WASHINGTON -- U.S. intelligence agencies recently determined that
Israel exported key ballistic missile components to South Africa, but President
Bush has decided to waive sanctions against Israel called for under U.S.
law, according to administration and diplomatic officials.
The officials said Bush's decision, which has not been publicly announced
and is being treated with extreme sensitivity inside the administration,
was motivated in part by concern that punishing Israel would undermine
its position at the Middle East peace conference due to open this week
and could further aggravate U.S.-Israeii relations.
Israeli sources said the decision to waive the sanctions took into account
Israel's agreement last month to pledge adherence to the Convention for
the Limitation of the Spread of Missile Technology.
The convention was adopted in 1987 by the United States and other industrialized
nations to prevent the proliferation of missiles to Third World nations.
Its rules are designed to prevent the develop ment of·missiles capable
of carrying nuclear warheads by countries that do not have such technology.
The Israeli sources also said Israel has told the United States it is
following through with a 1987 decision not to renew military contracts
with South Africa.
White House and State Departs ment spokesmen refused to comment on
Bush's decision to waive the sanctions against Israel.
Officials said the ballistic missile components at issue were shipped
within the past year by an Israeli government-affiliated weapons company
to the Armaments Corp. of South Africa, which also is government-affiliated.
The firm, known as Armscor, has long had close ties with Israeli weapons
engineers. Despite U.S. and allied countries' objections, Armscor has played
a leading role in South Africa's development of an advanced missile capability.
In the Bush administration's deliberations on the incident, the Israeli
company fared considerably better than the South African firm. On Oct.
15, Armscor was slapped with a two-year suspension of rights to export
or import products from U.S. territory and barred from receiving U.S. government
contracts for the same period.
Such sanctions are stipulated by last year's defense bill, which requires
the executive branch to take action against foreign firms or nations known
to have violated the 1987 international convention on missile technology
transfers.
South African officials said they were awaiting an explanation from
the Bush administration for the sanctions. They noted that little of Armscor's
business will be affected because the company is subject to a U.N. arms
embargo against South Africa.
However, executives of Armscor have complained publicly that the
United States is damaging thg firm's efforts to gain new overseas markets
now that South Africa's defense budget is shrinking.
The notice of the sanctions in the Federal Register made no mention
of Israel's involvement in the incident, but the administration recently
sent a classified notification to Congress of Bush's decision to waive
sanctions against Israel, officials said.
Numerous officials declined to speak about the incident on grounds that
the matter was politically sensitive.
Washington and several European allies are seeking constraints on the
transfer of ballistic missile technology to nations beyond the few that
have such a capability. A Middle East arms plan announced by Bush in June
calls for a ban on such sales to any nation in the region.
