Israel Suspends Missile Defense Deal With Venezuela Under Pressure From U.S.

2006-12-06

Geostrategy-Direct, www.geostrategy-direct.com

TEL AVIV -- U.S. pressure has forced Israel to freeze military projects for Venezuela worth more than $50 million. Sources said the Bush administration has determined that Venezuela, particularly President Hugo Chavez, represents a threat to the United States.

"Venezuela has not been a friend to Israel and the United States, but until now it was buying our systems," an Israeli source said. "Now, we are going to have to review our defense relations with Venezuela."

One of the projects was the supply of the Israeli-origin Barak missile defense system.

Israel and Venezuela signed the Barak deal several years ago and a few systems were supplied, the source said. The state-owned Rafael, Israel Armament Development Authority provided a ground model of the Barak-1 sea-based missile defense system, with a range of about 10 kilometers.

"We want to complete this deal, but the [U.S.] administration is very much against this, saying the Barak provides Venezuela with a new capability," the source said.

Rafael had also been contracted to supply advanced air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles to Venezuela, including the Python-4 and the Popeye. But the source said these orders have also been suspended.

The Israeli company has refused to confirm the suspension of its projects in Venezuela. In 2005, the Pentagon demanded that Israel withdraw its offer to upgrade F-16s for Venezuela.

Source: IMRA – Independent Media Review and Analysis