January 14, 2000
Web posted at: 12:05 a.m. EST (0505 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Israel's price for making peace with Syria could mean obtaining some of the most sophisticated weaponry in the United States arsenal.

CNN has learned that during the peace negotiations at Shepherdstown, West Virginia, Israel asked for radar- evading stealth technology, which the Pentagon has not shared with anyone until now.

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Israel also argued that if it gave up the strategic Golan Heights, it would need U.S. satellites to better detect any mobilization.

One source suggests that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak wants the satellite intelligence that Washington does not even share with its NATO allies.

Cruise missiles such as those that have already hit Iraq, Afghanistan and Sudan are also on Israel's shopping list.

Peace along the northern border with Syria would give Israel strategic depth and push any confrontation line back to Iraq and Iran, thus the request for long-range cruise missiles.

All this could bring dismay to the Arab world.

Mamoun Fandy, of Georgetown University in Washington, said: "Even those that have agreements with Israel, solid agreements, like Egypt, will be very disturbed at Israeli cruise missiles. The Saudis would be very disturbed. You throw Iraq and Iran into the equation, and you get a mess."

Barak told U.S. President Bill Clinton that Israel needs the latest U.S. weaponry to balance the risks the country is taking. The Israeli prime minister said such weapons would make it easier to sell any accord to a skeptical Israeli public.

Barak added: "A stable Middle East provides a stream, a kind of smooth flow of oil from the gulf to Europe and Japan."

For Israel to obtain cruise missiles would require a change in U.S. law. But Congress rarely says no to Israel, which already receives 26 percent of all U.S. international aid.