"Maariv" correspondents Ben Caspit and Yitzhak Ben Hourin report
from Washington in an article published on February 14th that Vice
President Al Gore promised to compensate Israel for the sale of 100
American F-16 jets to Saudi Arabia by achieving a breakthrough in
Israeli relations with the Saudis.

Senior Israeli authorities on the trip to Washington told the
reporters that Israel is resigned to the sale. Netanyahu and Gore
agreed that the Americans would act in Riyadh to get compensation
for Israel. Among the possible "compensations" mentioned is for
the Saudis to grant air passage rights over their country. Israel
already has the right to fly over Jordan, but without the agreement
of Saudi Arabia and Oman, Israel cannot utilize the right to fly
over Jordan. Another possibility raised is that the Saudi allow
the UAE to continue and enhance their normalization with Israel.
The Americans will also continue pressure on the Saudis to end the
Arab boycott against Israel."Maariv" correspondents Ben Caspit and Yitzhak Ben Hourin report
from Washington in an article published on February 14th that Vice
President Al Gore promised to compensate Israel for the sale of 100
American F-16 jets to Saudi Arabia by achieving a breakthrough in
Israeli relations with the Saudis.

Senior Israeli authorities on the trip to Washington told the
reporters that Israel is resigned to the sale. Netanyahu and Gore
agreed that the Americans would act in Riyadh to get compensation
for Israel. Among the possible "compensations" mentioned is for
the Saudis to grant air passage rights over their country. Israel
already has the right to fly over Jordan, but without the agreement
of Saudi Arabia and Oman, Israel cannot utilize the right to fly
over Jordan. Another possibility raised is that the Saudi allow
the UAE to continue and enhance their normalization with Israel.
The Americans will also continue pressure on the Saudis to end the
Arab boycott against Israel.

Israeli observers note that this represents a major change in the
interpretation of the U.S. commitment to maintain Israel's military
position vis-a-vis the Arab states. Until now, the United States,
at least in theory, weighed the impact that the sale of arms to the
Arabs states would have if they were used in an Arab-Israeli
conflict. As a result, weapons for the Arabs were expected to be
offset by arms technology provided to the Jewish state. In this
instance, Israel appears to be accepting reversible improvements in
Arab-Israeli relations as an offset to arms.

These observers note that, if the information is correct, the
precedent set in the Netanyahu-Gore discussion will have a serious
impact on Israel-Syria negotiations. Until now, the operative
assumption was that Israel would require security arrangements
which would insure Israel's security if Syrian-Israeli relations
should sour. By the same token, it was argued by supporters of
withdrawal from the strategic Golan Heights that the United States
could be relied upon to provide Israel with the arms technology
necessary to compensate for the abandonment of the Golan - both
immediately after the withdrawal and for the foreseeable future.
America's reinterpretation of its commitment to Israel's security,
as reflected in the proposed diplomatic rather than technological
compensation for the 100 F-16's, means that Israel can expect to
receive reversible Syrian gestures rather than meaningful
technological alternatives - if such exist - to Israel's continued
deployment on the Golan.

Critics also note that if Israel accepts the deal, it is paying
dearly for something which it had every reason to expect regardless
of the arms sale. Back in August of 1994, the U.S. approached
Saudi Arabia, at Israel's request, to ask that Israel be granted
air passage rights over the country. Israel's Transport Ministry
spokesman Eli Danon said at that time that "there is every
indication, that the Saudis will respond positively."

The Saudis have also parlayed promises to end the boycott of Israel
in the past. During the Gulf War, their ambassador to Washington,
Prince Bandar, cultivated Jewish leaders and hinted that the end of
the boycott was at hand.

As one critic put it - if Israel agrees that granting El Al
Airlines air passage rights compensates for 100 F-16's, what can
the Saudis expect for agreeing to an Israeli commercial office in
Riyadh - an A-bomb?