Declassified UK Files Suggest Israel Sold Arms to Argentina During Falklands War

Israel may have clandestinely sold arms to Argentina during the Falklands conflict between the United Kingdom and Argentina in 1982, British media reported Wednesday, citing newly declassified UK Foreign Office files.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to The Telegraph newspaper, Israel exported Skyhawk jets to Argentina before the outbreak of the military conflict that were used to bomb and sink four British warships, including the RFA Sir Galahad landing ship.

The declassified files supports claims in a book, published in Argentina in 2011, that Israel secretly provided General Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri's junta with weaponry via Peru.

According to a 1984 memorandum by C. W. Long, then head of the Near East and North Africa Department at the UK Foreign Office, Israel not only supplied Argentina with weapons during the military conflict, but continued to do so after the Falklands War, until at least 1984.

"Israel was one of the few countries to supply Argentina with arms during the Falklands conflict and has continued to do so," The Telegraph cited the memorandum as saying.

Argentina has repeatedly claimed the Falklands, about 300 miles off the country's east coast. The dispute saw a 74-day Falklands War in 1982, when Argentina invaded and briefly occupied the islands.

In March 2013, residents of the Falklands almost unanimously voted for the archipelago to remain an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom.