Agence France-Presse,
JERUSALEM: Israel has frozen a contract with Venezuela to upgrade its US-manufactured F-16 fighter jets under pressure from Washington, Israeli public radio said on Thursday, quoting unnamed officials.
The officials said that Israel had frozen the 100-million-dollar contract in a bid to avoid irking Washington further following the crisis sparked by an arms contract between Israel and China.
Israel's ties with its usually staunch US ally took a major hit from the row over a controversial weapons deal under which Israel was to upgrade a consignment of drones it had sold to China.
Washington imposed a series of sanctions on Israel's defence industry over the deal to upgrade Harpy Killer drones, amid concerns that advanced US defence technology contained in Israeli equipment could be used against Taiwan.
The Israeli government had been particularly keen to resolve the dispute with Washington at a time when it was seeking US support for its historic pullout from the Gaza Strip.
The officials quoted by Israeli public radio suggested that Washington had quashed the contract with Venezuela on protectionist grounds, as the suspension could lead Caracas to cancel the contract altogether.
Israel also had to pay Beijing 350 million dollars in compensation after breaking an agreement in 2000 to supply Falcon airplanes with an AWACS radar system.
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, a firebrand politician fond of neo-Marxist rhetoric, has rankled Washington with his constant assertions that, since a failed 2002 coup against him he said was organised by the CIA, he is an assassination target for the United States.
US officials have also expressed concerns about his ties with Iran and his support for Tehran's nuclear programme.
