US Looks to Boost "Israeli" Deterrence, Drop Ban on F-22

Source: Al-Manar TV, 07-06-2008

US House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman said he was open to removing the restriction on F-22 sales to boost ‘Israeli' deterrence. "I'm a strong supporter of ‘Israel' getting all the material and equipment they need," Berman, a California Democrat who assumed the chairmanship after the death of Tom Lantos earlier this year, told ‘Israeli' daily The Jerusalem Post. In terms of dropping the ban on F-22 sales, he said, "I certainly would look at it."

The defense establishment has long eyed the stealth F-22 "Raptor" as a bulwark to ‘Israel's' air capabilities, but a US law banning its sale abroad has prevented ‘Israel' from acquiring the top-of-the-line plane. ‘Israeli' officials reportedly brought up the possibility of a repeal of the ban during meetings at the White House during Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's trip to Washington this week, though his aides declined to confirm the details of the conversations.

Berman, who visited ‘Israel' last month, noted that the House recently passed a bill to strengthen Israel's qualitative military edge in any US arms sales, explaining, "We're trying to lay a foundation for a tougher-minded evaluation of what assistance Israel needs."

That legislation needs to pass in the US Senate before it can be signed into law. And any effort by Berman to drop the ban on sales of the F-22 - described in the past as based on protecting the US from the transfer of technology to the wrong actors - would have to be matched in the Senate.

Still, as a leading figure in the House on foreign issues, Berman would be a key player on moving such a priority forward.

This comes at a time ‘Israel' and the US have been signaling an imminent strike to the Islamic Republic of Iran, soon.