Arens: Israel ready to decide on new war plane purchase

Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Arens said yesterday that his country is "on the verge of making a decision on the next batch of fighter aircraft. It might be F-16s; it might F-15s. It might be maybe a mix of both aircraft."

Speaking at a joint press conference with US Secretary of Defense William Cohen yesterday in Washington, Arens added that Israel is "fully supportive of the United States government's position on preventing Iran, or preventing the Russians from transferring technology in the ballistic missile area and in the nuclear area to Iran."

Cohen said the two sides "discussed Israel's military modernization program [and] the United States commitment to help Israel maintain her qualitative edge in defense," as well as other regional issues such as continuing the Middle East peace process and providing security and economic support to Jordan.

Commenting on the development of the anti-missile Arrow missile, Cohen said, "We have indicated we support the continuation of the research and development phase of the Arrow program and we'll work with Congress to bring the funding about. We have not reached finalization of how we'll fund it, but that is a commitment by the United States."