Israel and Latin America: The Military Connection

By Bishara Bahbah, New York: St. Martin's Press, in association with the Institute for Palestine Studies (Washington, DC), 1986. 210 pages, $27.50 (cloth), $12.95 (paper).

Reviewed by Donna Lee Bowen

As the Iran-contra scandal has clearly shown, Israel and the US do not share the same interests in the Iran-Iraq war. That is equally true, though perhaps not so universally recognized, with respect to US and Israeli interests in Latin America. In Israel and Latin America: The Military Connection, Bishara Bahbah examines not only the growth of Israel's armaments industry but also the use by Israeli leaders of arms sales as an instrument of foreign policy.

Like many other nations, Israeli leaders use arms both as a commodity, to be traded on the world market, and as an instrument of foreign policy, made available to nations which Israel deems useful to its own ambitions. While others, notably Israeli academic Aaron Kleiman, have examined the size of Israel's armaments industry, Bahbah's focus on the economic and political motivations of Israeli arms sales is unique, and his research is thorough and convincing.

Historical Overview

Israel and Latin America begins with a historical overview of the development of Israel's armaments industry. Israeli leaders have invested a significant percentage of their national budget in weapons research and production because they felt they could not rely on outside sources to supply them in times of need. Today Israeli firms produce helmets and gas masks as well as light arms, like the popular Uzi submachine gun, and advanced aircraft, like the Kfir and Arava jets. Bahba also notes that Israel's most spectacular project, the highly-controversial Lavi jet-fighter, is heavily dependent on US funding.

Israeli leaders believed a strong arms industry would help satisfy Israel's military needs as well as remedy its balance of payments problem. Israeli arms salesmen emphasized two crucial points with potential clients: Israel's weapons had been proven in battle, and Israel would sell arms to any country which does not threaten its security. This latter point was emphasized by retired Israeli General Matti Peled when, during an NBC new interview on the Iran-contra affair, he explained, "Israel will sell anything to anybody. Its sole consideration is to be well-paid." Israel's steady sale of weapons to Argentina throughout the 1970's, despite the then-ruling Argentine junta's history of anti-Semitic policies, would seem to support Peled's contention.

Bahbah notes that Israeli arms dealers are willing to tailor their armaments to suit the particular needs of their customers, especially when those needs include counter-insurgency. Moreover, the Israelis have copied and adapted foreign weapons for their own needs, then re-sold them on the international market. The widely-acclaimed Galil assault rifle is a modification of the Soviet Kalachnikov. The Kfir fighter aircraft was designed from plans for the French Mirage, stolen in Switzerland.

Arms Sales: Instrument of Israeli Foreign Policy

In examining Israeli policy in Latin America, Bahbah concludes that Israeli policy has at times contravened US goals, while at other times Israel and the US have worked in tandem. In initiating trade relations with Latin America in the 1950's, Israel traded arms for diplomatic support. When the US refused to supply arms to some Latin American governments for political reasons, Israel stepped in to fill the void. In Nicaragua, Israel was willing to work first with the US to supply Somoza, and then continued sales to the Somoza government after the US stopped supplying it arms. After the fall of Somoza, again Israel worked in tandem with the US in supplying weapons to the anti-Sandinista contras, then continued to send weapons to them after American domestic politics constrained the US government's freedom of action.

Bahbah shows, however, that Israel's arms trade has not lived up to its leaders' expectations of success. In the aftermath of the 1973 and 1982 wars, Israel's political support in Latin America slackened. Israel's arms exports to Latin America now lag behind those of the US. In addition, as Israel's problems in constructing the Lavi jet-fighter demonstrate, Israel remains heavily dependent on the US for production of sophisticated weaponry.

Israel and Latin America: The Military Connection is a well-documented analysis of the origin and development of Israel's arms industry, and of the foreign policy uses of that industry. Particularly informative is Bahbah's analysis of how Israeli leaders have linked their domestic economic policy with diplomatic and national security interests.

Donna Lee Bowen is Associate Professor of Political Science at Brigham Young University, Utah.