Nor, apparently, is relief in sight. Their activities, if history is an accurate indicator, may more than offset the efforts of U.S. defense experts to protect America's military and commercial secrets by increasing the opportunities for more illegal retransfers of U.S. military and dual-use technology to third parties. Further, the Clinton administration has been extremely lax in its handling of Israel's violations of U.S. law, and in fact has effectively rewarded the Israelis for their misbehavior by relaxing curbs on the transfer of sensitive technology to Israel, despite the fact that Israel violates U.S. defense re-export laws more frequently and with more sensitive technology than any other country. Overall, it appears Israel's persistent abuse of its special relationship with Washington will continue into the foreseeable future. Israeli officials are pursuing short-term financial gains.
American officials are concerned about domestic political repercussions.
Both, it seems, are ignoring long-term security concerns. Shawn L. Twing is the news editor of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs .