[Dr. Aaron Lener - IMRA: From the Hebrew edition article:
www.haaretz.co.il/hasite/pages/ShArtPE.jhtml?itemNo=887236&contrassID=2&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0

"In talks carried out by the chief of the Israeli defense ministry's
political-military bureau, Amos Gilad, and the head of Planning Branch -
Major General Ido Nechushtan, the Americans agreed to "delete" part of the
ability of the smart bombs, such that they could not hurt Israel, and to
demand that the Saudis do not deploy them at the Tabuk air force base next
to Eilat"

Robin Wright Washington Post Staff Writer - Saturday, July 28, 2007; A01
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/27/AR2007072702454_pf.html

report that under the plan Egypt would get $13 billion in arms over 10 years

It should be noted that Egypt already is heavily armed with advanced
American weapons which it trains to use against "an enemy to the East of the
Suez Canal" = Israel. Egypt has invested many billions of dollars of
American aid on American weapons systems that would enable it to quickly
move its forces under the cover of mobile anti-aircraft missile systems in
an invasion of the Jewish State.

Egyptian and Saudi forces already carry out joint exercises.

No one can predict who or what will control the Egyptian and Saudi forces in
the years to come.

By the same token, it remains unclear to what extent it is possible to rely
on the assumed inability of the Saudis to find a way (read: bribe someone)
to circumvent a software patch in the JDAMs that would prevent them from
accepting location points inside Israel. ]
==============

U.S. pledges to increase its military aid to Israel

By Aluf Benn, Haaretz Correspondent Last update - 04:10 29/07/2007
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/887256.html

The U.S. is prepared to increase military aid to Israel in order to ease the
defense establishment's concerns over a proposed American weapons sale to
Saudi Arabia, diplomatic sources in Jerusalem told Haaretz over the weekend,
thereby confirming reports in the U.S. media.

According to the New York Times and the Washington Post, the proposed
package of advanced weaponry for Saudi Arabia is expected to eventually
total $20 billion. It reportedly includes advanced satellite-guided bombs,
upgrades to its fighter jets and new naval vessels. It has reportedly raised
concerns in Israel and among its supporters in Congress.

Senior officials who described the package on Friday said they believed the
administration had resolved those concerns, in part by promising Israel
$30.4 billion in military aid over the next decade, a significant increase
over what Israel has received in the past 10 years.

In addition to promising an increase in military aid, the Pentagon is also
asking the Saudis to accept restrictions on the range, size and location of
the satellite-guided bombs, including a commitment not to store the weapons
at air bases located nearby Israeli territory, the officials said.

The package and the possible steps to allay Israel's concerns were described
to Congress this week, as the administration aimed to test the reaction on
Capitol Hill before entering into final negotiations with Saudi officials.
The Saudis had requested that Congress be told about the planned sale, the
officials said, in an effort to avoid the kind of bruising fight that
occurred on Capitol Hill in the 1980s over proposed arms sales to the
kingdom.

Security officials in Jerusalem called the increase in military aid "an
unusual achievement." They added that the increase was the primary objective
during Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's most recent visit to the U.S. last
month. "In Olmert's meeting with President Bush in Washington, the president
agreed to increase military aid by 25 percent to $3 billion per annum for
the next 10 years," one diplomatic source reported.

The final details about the new aid package to Israel will be worked out
during the visit by U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs
Nicholas Burns to the region, diplomatic sources said, adding that his visit
is slated for mid-August. They said Egypt is also expected to receive
additional military aid.

Israel and the U.S. still need to determine how much of the military aid
Israel will be allowed to change into shekels, in order to purchase locally
manufactured defense systems. Currently, Israel is permitted to funnel 26.75
percent of U.S. military aid toward internal weapons deals.

A senior official in the Bush administration said the sizable increase was a
result of Israel's need to replace equipment expended during the Second
Lebanon War last summer, as well as to maintain its advantage in advanced
weaponry in the face of other regional countries' modernizing their forces.

Israeli officials have made specific requests aimed at eliminating concerns
that satellite-guided bombs sold to the Saudis could be used against its
territory, administration officials said.

Their major concern is not a full-scale Saudi attack, but the possibility
that a rogue pilot armed with one of the bombs could attack on his own or
that the Saudi government could one day be overthrown and the weapons could
fall into the hands of a more radical regime, U.S. officials explained.