' INFORMATION Q l Hl S Sw l - 3494 NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL -- ' Gne 11 1981 RICHARD V ALLEN ROBERT M KIMMITT v' Israeli Strike - gal Aspects MEMORANDUM MEMORANDUM FOR FROM SUBJECT The Arms Export Control Act requires cutting off military sales credits and deliveriea if a country substantially violates any term of the agreement under which U S weapons are transferred to it The President is required to report to Congress promptly if such a violation may have occurred this reporting requirement has been delegated by Executive ' Order to the Secretary of State If the President determines that a substantial violation has occurred and reports this fact to the Congress or if the Congress so determines via joint resolution no arms transfers can be made until the violation ceases and the country involved gives assurances that the violation will not recur For cash sales and deliveries from prior sales however the President may waive the cut-off if he determines such action would have a significant adverse effect on the national security In this case a determination has been made that there may have been a substantial violation of the agreement relating to Israeli use of U S arms for legitimate self-defense The Secretary of State has reported this fact to the Congress on the President's behalf We have also stated 1 that our review of this matter continuing 2 that we will inform Congress of the results of our discussions and deliberations and 3 that we are suspending for the time being immediate shipment of four additional F-16 aircraft We must now decide whether a substantial violation has occurred If it has the sanctions above would take effect after noti fication to Congress If it has not no sanctions or reports to Congress are legally required although we have apparently obligated ourselves to a second report to Congress under any circumstances Also although unlikely the Congress itself could invoke sanctions unilaterally as it did in the case of Turkey in 1976 The toughest question concerns the suspension of F-16 delivery Such action is legally required only if it is determined that a substantial violation has occurred Since that determination has not been reached the decision was based on policy con siderations This raises the question whether other deliveries will be similarly suspended I assume the answer is no and that the F-16 suspension was based on the special circumstance that it was one of the aircraft used in the raid Note however that an additional delivery of 6 F-16s is scheduled for mid-July so our review should be wrapped up by then