Procurement: September 17, 2002

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Israel has fired more than 1,200 TOW, Hellfire, and other guided anti-tank rockets at Palestinian targets during the last two years of the Palestinian uprising. Partly to offset this expenditure, the Israelis have ordered 2,030 TOW-II missiles from Raytheon of the US for $80 million. The purchase is somewhat controversial as Rafael (an Israeli company) insists that its NTD missile is superior and that the money should be spent inside the country, but Israel relies on US military aid for much of its arms purchases, and 3/4 of that money must be spent with US companies. Israeli companies constantly complain that the US limits on where this aid money can be spent are unfair, and that if the money was spent inside Israel it would help develop local industries that do not attach political strings to their products.--Stephen V Cole