MIDDLE EAST: Phantoms and Bargains

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One English word that both Arabs and Israelis instantly recognize is "Phantom." Meaning not ghost or specter, but the U.S.-built F-4 fighter-bomber, which has been the backbone of Israel's clearly superior air force since 1969. Considering the importance of the planes, Israelis should have been happier—and Arabs more furious —than they were after it was announced at year's end that the U.S. was prepared to resume shipment of F-4s to Israel.

During her visit to the White House last month, Israeli Premier Golda Meir bluntly asked President Nixon to sell her the 50 Phantoms that Israel had been requesting for 15 months. Until Mrs. Meir's visit, the U.S. response had been that Middle East military forces were in balance —which really meant undiminished Israeli superiority—and that Israel had no need for more than the 76 Phantoms it now owns. After the White House talks, President Nixon reversed that stand. The U.S. will provide Israel with Phantoms as well as slower but versatile A-4 Skyhawk fighter-bombers. No official totals have been mentioned, but knowledgeable estimates put the figure at 40 Phantoms and 80 Skyhawks. Both sides insist that Israel had given nothing in exchange, which seemed hard to believe. "Official denials do not have a very convincing ring," said the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz.

Actually, Israel appeared to have given up one thing: obstinacy over talks with Egypt toward a reopening of the Suez Canal. The U.S. last year attempted to arbitrate such a discussion, but it was suspended after Israel objected to a U.N. speech by Secretary of State William Rogers. Rogers proposed that the Israelis withdraw some troops from the Bar-Lev Line, that a U.N. peace-keeping force be stationed in the Sinai, and that Egyptian "police" be allowed to cross the canal to the Israeli-occupied east bank.

Soon the talks may resume under new arrangements that both sides seem to favor. Arab states refuse to deal directly with Israel, but Egypt is amenable to "proximity discussions," in which representatives of the two nations would closet themselves in separate hotel suites while U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Joseph Sisco shuttles between them. U.N. Mediator Gunnar Jarring, acting under a U.N. resolution that calls on Israel to withdraw from occupied territories in return for secure and agreed borders, is also trying to resume his own negotiations. They have been stalled for months because of Israeli intransigence, and he will almost certainly fail.

The reason Israel might well be less adamant in the hotel talks—and the reason Arab capitals reacted to the Phantom announcement with what Washington considers relative restraint —is the procedure for Phantom deliveries.

Although 40 planes over a year's time was mentioned as a schedule, the actual negotiations for delivery will not take place until Israeli Ambassador Yitzhak Rabin returns to Washington this week. Obvious but unmentioned is the U.S. intention to tie the flow of shipments to Israeli cooperation at the negotiating table. If Israel becomes recalcitrant again, the Phantoms may suddenly stop coming.