Is Washington trying to give Israel the old freeze-out on the Joint Strike Fighter? Influential Israelis seem to think so. The Tel Aviv daily Haaretz reports that the US continues to delay Israel’s participation in the F-35 program, even after the two countries resolved their security dispute over weapons technology sales this past summer and personnel changes were made at the Israeli Defense Ministry. The U.S. has agreed to renew activities on a series of security and strategic cooperation that had previously been suspended, but the JSF ban remains until the Knesset passes new legislation relating to Israeli weapons technology exports. Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz is scheduled to travel to Washington next month to talk with Donald Rumsfeld about the restriction.
The cost of the nuclear AGM-181 Long-Range Stand Off missile has come down slightly and the program is on track, but several technologies it relies on are still considered immature, the Government Accountability Office found in a report. Meanwhile, the GAO also assessed the LGM-35A Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile as…