Bush Hopes Missile Shield Offer Will Keep Israel Out of Conflict

The US is to offer to deploy a Patriot anti-missile shield in Israel in an attempt to win assurances from the Jewish state that it will stay out of any conflict with Iraq.

The Israeli government said yesterday that Ariel Sharon would meet George Bush on a visit to the US on October 16. Diplomatic sources said the prime minister would seek guarantees about Israel's security if Washington decided to try to topple Saddam Hussein.

The US is pressing Israel to keep silent on Iraq because it fears that bellicose statements will inflame Arab opinion. It wants Mr Sharon to avoid an escalation of the confrontation with the Palestinians for the same reason.

Yesterday, Israeli army radio said Mr Sharon had ordered ministers not to talk publicly about Iraq, after Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, the defence minister, upset Washington by predicting that an attack would come in November.

The head of the Shin Bet security service, Avi Dichter, met the US secretary of state, Colin Powell, and Mr Bush's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, last week to discuss Israel's response to an Iraqi attack. Mr Sharon has said his government will hit back if there are civilian casualties, or if Iraq uses chemical or biological weapons. His aides say that to do anything less would be interpreted by the Arab world as weakness.

American officials question what the Israelis can do that US forces cannot. The US defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, has said that it is in Israel's interest not to become embroiled in the Iraq conflict.

Washington is also seeking to reassure the Israelis that, unlike during the 1991 Gulf war, it will make a priority of destroying Iraqi missiles that can be launched against the Jewish state. Diplomatic sources say that the US is promising to give Israel at least 48 hours notice of an attack on Iraq, and offering to deploy Patriot missiles on its soil, as it did in the last Gulf war, with limited success. Israel is also deploying a new missile of its own.

Israelis can draw some comfort from their chief of military intelligence, Major General Aharon Ze'evi, who said at the weekend that he had no evidence that Iraq had missiles intended for Israel.

Gen Ze'evi also questioned whether President Saddam had the capability to deliver biological or chemical weapons the necessary distance.

He told Israeli television that he would not be surprised if Iraq instead attacked neighbouring states. "Our capability since the Gulf war has strengthened on all parameters, and theirs has weakened," he said. "Those who should be worried are Saudi Arabia, the Iranians, Syria, and only then Israel."