THE Israeli military establishment is said to be reeling in horror at the revelations, in a new British publication, of some of the most cherished secrets of its vaunted air force.
The widely respected London based Jane's Information Group, in a publication due out this week, apparently details not only how many of each category of aircraft and some of the missiles Israel possesses, but also the locations of each squadron's airfields and training bases, information on ground support units - and additional facts that military sources here are quoted as saying are classified "top secret".
Although a spokesman for Jane's insisted yesterday that everything in the report "has been previously published somewhere in the world", the reaction of the former Israeli air force commander, Gen Avihu Bin Nun, suggested otherwise.
"This is very grave," he said. "It's simply unbelievable."
The information could prove immensely damaging, he added, since it would enable enemy intelligence agencies to "fill in black holes" in their knowledge of Israel's military capabilities, and could also help them get more information out of Israeli air personnel who might fall captive.
Gen Bin Nun, who headed the Israeli air force at the time of the Gulf War, said the details revealed by Jane's must have taken an immense amount of research to uncover. Other military analysts added that while some information was out of date, other data showed access to highly privileged sources.
Amid the screams of horror and outrage at the publication, however, a helping of scepticism might be in order. If Israel is warned by the revelations, it is curious that a recently retired senior officer such as Gen Bin Nun would give credibility and added publicity to the affair by commenting publicly on the information.
Similarly, it seems curious that Israel's leading tabloid newspaper, Yediot Ahronot, would be permitted by Israeli military censors to highlight the story in a front page headline and devote two pages inside to an article on the "scandal", complete with map and tables.
One might even be tempted to believe that Israel was interested in the rest of the world paying attention to the "revelations" - perhaps because they are deemed to be so intimidating as to boost Israel's military deterrence, or perhaps because they are inaccurate.
Israel has discovered parts of the body of a soldier, Ilan Sa'adon, kidnapped seven years ago by Hamas militants. The breakthrough came through cooperation with Mr Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority, which obtained information on Sa'adon's fate from Hamas detainees under interrogation. The kidnappers are said to be hiding in Sudan and Syria. As digging continued on a coastal road for more of Sa'adon's remains, Israel last night praised Mr Arafat for his assistance in the case.
Meanwhile, the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, said yesterday Israel wanted to resume peace talks with Syria, which he accused of waging an indirect war against the Jewish state in Lebanon. Mr Netanyahu told Israel Radio's Arabic service that Syria proposed peace talks should resume at Wye Plantation near Washington, the venue used before his May election victory.