Old Israeli Proposal = Israel as US Military Satellite State

[MKSheppard]

I'm quite serious.

I found this by accident in old newspapers while looking up stuff on the M-1 and T-80s from the 1980s:

New York Times Oct 9, 1981

Israelis Press Military Accord With U.S.
By DREW MIDDLETON
Special to The New York Times

TEL AVIV, Oct. 7 — Israeli leaders hope that the assassination of President Anwar el-Sadat of Egypt will impel the United States to speed agreement on the broad military cooperation Israel has proposed.

An Israeli government delegation expects to go to Washington at the end of this month, and officials say it hopes to sign at that time a memorandum of understanding that would be the basis for such cooperation.

In talks in Washington at the beginning of last month, when Israeli leaders argued against a Reagan Administration proposal to sell AWACS radar planes to Saudi Arabia, the United States and Israel were said to have agreed that there was a need to strengthen their strategic ties to counter what is seen as a Soviet threat to the Middle East.

The Israeli proposals, which were put to President Reagan and Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger by Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Defense Minister Ariel Sharon, were said to call for extensive cooperation in the deployment of American land, sea and air forces in the Middle East.

The Israeli Proposals

The proposals, according to Israeli officials who participated in the talks, included these elements :

*The Israeli Air Force would provide cover for United States transports flying units of the Rapid Deployment Force to the Middle East. Israeli fighters, the sources said, could exert air superiority over the eastern Mediterranean in cooperation with aircraft of the United States Sixth Fleet

*Tanks and other equipment for an armored division would be taken out of Israeli service and stored for use by the United States Army in a crisis. The tanks would be T-60's, the main battle tank of the American Army for the last decade.

*The United States would station 150 or more high-performance jet fighters — F-15's, F-16's and F-4's — in Israel, where they would be maintained by the Israeli aerospace industry.

The sources said the Israeli Government was receptive to an American proposal that an 8,000-bed military hospital be established in Israel for use in a Middle East crisis.

No U.S. Pilots in Israel

Discussing the expected benefits, senior Israeli officials said that, under the proposals by their leaders, the United States would finance expanded production of the Israeli Merkava tank in exchange for the use in emergency of the tanks and other equipment for a full armored division that would be pre-positioned in Israel.

Similarly, the deployment of 150 United States fighters in Israel, drawn from the Indian Ocean squadron of the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean, would provide the Israeli aerospace industry with the opportunity to maintain the aircraft and perhaps make modifications in their electronic systems. Israeli sources insisted that they did not want American pilots stationed in Israel.

Discussion of the proposals here pointed to two serious differences between Israeli and American strategic thinking on Southwest Asia. As the Israelis interpret Washington's military approach, the strategy is designed to meet and defeat Soviet aggression in the region after it has begun.

The Israelis assert that their strategy, based on an alliance with the United States, is intended to deter Soviet aggression by providing the basis for rapid American reaction to Russian moves.

Iran and Mideast Stability

For both military establishments, possible Soviet intervention in Iran is seen as the gravest danger to the region's stability. As the Israelis understand it, 20 days would pass before the United States could make an effective military response to such intervention. Even then some Israelis doubt that the United States would be willing to react fully because of fears of starting a nuclear war.

But the American reaction time could be cut, Israelis argued, if the Pentagon and the State Department take advantage of Israel's geographical position.

Present Pentagon planning, the sources said, estimates that it would take 17 days for an American force to reach Dhahran in the Saudi oilfields from the proposed United States base at Ras Banas on Egypt's Red Sea coast.

With Israel as a base, a senior military source said, American forces could reach Dhahran overland in three days and Kuwait in 38 hours.

Senior Israeli officiais estimate that, with ground and air resources positioned in Israel, Rapid Deployment Force units from the United States could be in Iran in 48 hours.

Dividends for Israel

Access to American satellite photographs of the region would be one of the chief dividends for Israel from a closer military relationship. Officials here say the Israeli military leadership is disturbed by what is described as the inability of Israel's reconnaisance aircraft to see deep into Syria. Israeli planes have been impeded by the introduction of Syrian surface-to-air missiles into Lebanon last spring and the concentration of other batteries on and just east of the Syrian-Lebanese border.

The United States attitude toward the Israeli proposals appears to be mildly favorable, although there is military resistance to stockpiling armor and other equipment in stationary positions on land. Current thinking favors deployment of such stores on fast merchant ships.

The overall American attitude was formed before President Sadat's death. Both Americans and Israelis believe that the two countries must do a great deal of rethinking on Middle East policy in the near future.

Israel's senior military and political strategists consequently believe that this is the time to push hard for measures that will transform military cooperation into a military alliance.

[Illuminatus Primus]

Who cares?

[Gandalf]

I found it vaguely interesting.

[[R_H]]

The tanks would be T-60's, the main battle tank of the American Army for the last decade.

Clearly, the Soviet arms industry was so ahead of the American counterpart, America was forced to buy tanks from the Soviet Union.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

The tanks would be T-60's, the main battle tank of the American Army for the last decade.

Clearly, the Soviet arms industry was so ahead of the American counterpart, America was forced to buy tanks from the Soviet Union.

There are no T-60s.. except scout tanks in WWII......

Shep was referring to M60s.

[[R_H]]

The tanks would be T-60's, the main battle tank of the American Army for the last decade.

Clearly, the Soviet arms industry was so ahead of the American counterpart, America was forced to buy tanks from the Soviet Union.

There are no T-60s.. except scout tanks in WWII......

Shep was referring to M60s.

I know, I was being sarcastic (didn't know about the tanks in WW2 though). From what I've seen, I doubt Shep would make a mistake like that. Most likely was a typo in the article itself

[Guardsman Bass]

Actually, that was kind of interesting. I thought the idea of stockpiling old tanks for the Americans to use was kind of bizarre, but the rest of the proposal didn't seem too strikingly unusual.

The thread title was weird, though; I entered into the thread thinking that you had found some old document suggesting that the US annex Israel or the like.

[MKSheppard]

I know, I was being sarcastic (didn't know about the tanks in WW2 though). From what I've seen, I doubt Shep would make a mistake like that. Most likely was a typo in the article itself

Yeah, Journalists 26 years ago were just as stupid as they are now.

[Kanastrous]

Actually, that was kind of interesting. I thought the idea of stockpiling old tanks for the Americans to use was kind of bizarre, but the rest of the proposal didn't seem too strikingly unusual.

The M60A3 was still considered a viable front-line tank, at the time. The USMC was still using 'em.

[Sidewinder]

I entered into the thread thinking that you had found some old document suggesting that the US annex Israel or the like.

I'm curious: if the US actually decided to annex Israel as the 51st state-- complete with a National Guard and Air National Guard to defend the place-- would the Israelis accept such an arrangement?

[Kanastrous]

Aw, hell, no.

[Guardsman Bass]

Not a chance, unless they literally had no other option other than to be annihilated and massacred, and were out of arms and resources.