Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, March 1998, Page 101

Defense & Intelligence

U.S., Israel and Turkey Hold "Reliant Mermaid" Naval Exercises

By Shawn L. Twing

"When the two strongest armies in the Middle East...are focused on achieving an unwritten military alliance, and when the world's only superpower grants this process its support, other countries in the region have cause for concern."—Ron Ben Yishai, military commentator for Israel's Hebrew daily Yediot Ahronot.

The United States, Israel and Turkey joined forces for a one-day joint naval exercise Jan. 7 codenamed "Reliant Mermaid," which has been condemned by virtually every Arab country, Russia, Greece and Iran.

The exercises, described by the participants as strictly humanitarian, involved some 1,000 sailors and five warships, including the U.S. frigate John Rogers. They were held approximately 60 miles off the coast of Haifa and simulated the rescue of the crew of a sinking fishing boat and a distress call from a yacht in the Mediterranean. Aiding the five ships—two Israeli, two Turkish and one American—were several helicopters and an Israeli sea scan aircraft.

The countries criticizing "Reliant Mermaid" fear that the maneuvers signaled the development of a new power axis in the Middle East approved by the United States. Syria, the country with the most to lose from deepening Israeli-Turkish relations because it is geographically sandwiched between them and has poor relations with both countries, reacted sharply to the exercise. Syria's state-run daily newspaper Tishrin referred to the exercises as a "sinister alliance," and denounced neighboring Jordan for sending its naval chief, Rear Admiral Hussein Khassawneh, to observe the exercise.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa warned that "Turkey must know that any alliance with Israel will trigger a counterbalance." He called the maneuvers "a negative step in light of the peace process stalemate," adding that "The timing of these drills is all wrong. Egypt does not see any reason for staging them at this time."

U.S. State Department spokesman James Rubin responded to Moussa's comments by saying that the U.S. "made it clear we support this exercise. And we don't think it would justify any ramping up of anybody else's military considerations."

Even Russia did not support "Reliant Mermaid," saying that the exercises "aggravate mistrust and handicap efforts to bring stability to the region."

Israel Receives First Advanced F-15I Attack Aircraft from the United States

The first two of 25 F-15I (the "I" signifies the model prepared for Israel) multi-role combat aircraft touched down in Israel's Hatzerim air force base Jan. 19 before a crowd of 3,000, including dignitaries from the United States and Israel.

Code named "Thunder" by Israel, the F-15I is among the most advanced combat aircraft in the world today, combining long-range bombing capabilities (4,500-kilometer range with 11 tons of weapons) with what is arguably the world's best air superiority fighter. Built by Boeing's McDonnell Aircraft and Missile Systems group (formerly McDonnell Douglas before it was purchased by Seattle-based Boeing in 1997), headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, it includes subsystems built by 34 Israeli firms valued at $500 million of the contract's estimated $2.2 billion cost. [Author's note: Of all countries receiving U.S. foreign military aid, only Israel and Egypt are allowed to offset the cost of U.S. hardware purchases with work or services provided by indigenous defense industries. In the case of the F-15I, Israeli defense firms had invaluable access to American technology and were able to save some 25 percent of the F-15I's original purchase price.]

Boeing completed the first flight of the F-15I on Sept. 12, 1997 and rolled out the first completed aircraft during a Nov. 6 ceremony in St. Louis. Israeli Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai attended the event and placed the first Star of David on the fuselage. "The F-15I will provide a significant contribution to Israel's air deterrence power. I pray this aircraft will bestow upon us the wings of peace and not the ghosts of war," he said.

New Report Lists Israel Among Countries Which Stole $300 Billion in Secrets from U.S. in 1997

Commercial and economic espionage by foreign countries including Israel cost U.S. companies an estimated $300 billion in 1997, according to a report prepared by the American Society for Industrial Security cited in the Jan. 12 Los Angeles Times. The report listed 1,100 documented incidents of economic espionage in 1997, and an additional 550 incidents that could not be fully documented.

In an earlier article that appeared in the journal Public Administration Review, Federal Bureau of Investigation agent Edwin Fraumann named Israel as a major offender in attempts to collect economic intelligence in the United States.

The FBI corroborated Fraumann's report and said that more than 700 cases of economic espionage currently are under investigation in the United States, and that "economic spying by countries considered friends as well as adversaries of the United States has been increasing," according to the Los Angeles Times report.

More damning, however, was a 1996 report by the U.S. General Accounting Office that illustrated Israel's clandestine operations against the United States. Entitled Defense Industrial Security: Weaknesses in U.S. Security Arrangements With Foreign-Owned Defense Contractors, the declassified GAO report claimed that "Country A" (publicly identified as Israel in the Feb. 22, 1996 Washington Times) "conducts the most aggressive espionage operation against the United States of any U.S. ally." For more on this subject, including the GAO's list of Israeli espionage activities against the United States, see: "Pentagon, GAO Report Israeli Espionage and Illegal Technology Retransfer," Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, April 1996, pp. 14, 113.