Israel denies reports about gun-making plans

WASHINGTON, April 13 (JTA) — Israel is denying reports that a government-owned weapons manufacturer plans to sidestep a Clinton administration ban and go ahead with plans to arm Americans with Uzis. Israel Military Industries “has no intention and has made no decision” to produce modified assault weapons for sale in the United States, said Gadi Baltiansky, a spokesman for the Israeli Embassy in Washington. The Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz reported that the company intended to set up a plant in the United States to manufacture a civilian version of the Uzi submachine gun in a joint operation with an American manufacturer. The modified Uzi was on a list of 58 types of assault weapons President Clinton banned through an executive order last week. The news report said the Israeli manufacturer planned to get around the ban by sending the blueprints and parts to the United States for assembly. Baltiansky said Israel Military Industries reached an agreement more than a year ago to cooperate with an American weapons manufacturer, O.F. Mossberg & Sons. He provided no further details about the nature of the joint venture, saying only that it would help Israel Military Industries “to be more active in the United States.” “Obviously, they will do nothing which is against the law,” he added. Neither company returned phone calls for comment. Clinton’s executive order was intended to close a loophole in a 1994 assault weapons ban through which thousands of foreign-made assault rifles have found their way to American shores. Foreign gun manufacturers such as Israel Military Industries have been modifying semiautomatic rifles for “sporting purposes” in order to evade restrictions. In fact it was Israel’s plans to export modified Uzis and Galils that prompted congressional scrutiny of the issue. Israel had expected to export about 10,000 of the assault weapons — worth about $7 million — to the United States during the next three to four years, according to Israel Military Industries.