The Bush administration appears set to offer Israel a powerful radar system that could greatly boost Israeli defenses against enemy ballistic missiles while tying it directly into a growing US missile shield.
President George W. Bush is expected to discuss the matter during a visit to Israel on Wednesday to mark the 60th anniversary of the Jewish state amid mounting US concerns about perceived threats from Iran, sources said.
This is "probably the No. 2 issue" on Bush's agenda for the visit, second only to the Middle East peace process, said Rep. Mark Kirk, an Illinois Republican who has spearheaded calls in Congress for tighter US missile-defense ties with Israel.
The system Bush may offer is known as a forward-based X-band radar and has been described by US officials as capable of tracking an object the size of a baseball from about 2,900 miles away.
It would let Israel's Arrow missile defenses engage a Shahab-3 ballistic missile about halfway through what would be its 11-minute flight to Israel from Iran, or six times sooner than Israel's "Green Pine" Radar is currently capable of doing, Kirk said on Friday.
"This is the best thing to lower tensions between Israel and Iran" because Iran presumably would be less likely to attack under such circumstances, Kirk said.
An Israeli defense official said Israel had discussed a range of "parting gifts" from Bush, who leaves office on Jan. 20, including military pacts and technologies.
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