WORLD : Israel Air Defense Missed MIG
JERUSALEM — Israel’s air defenses failed to detect a Syrian air force MIG-23 fighter that a defecting pilot flew unchallenged across northern Israel, Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir said today.
Shamir said the air force was investigating “how a plane can arrive without us detecting it immediately,” but he urged Israelis not to turn Wednesday’s event into a source of argument and concern.
Israeli military intelligence experts were questioning the pilot, Maj. Adel Bassem, 34, who said he fled for personal motives and requested political asylum in Israel.
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