Israel to buy thousands of US smart bombs

ISRAEL intends to buy thousands of advanced "smart" bombs from the US which the Jewish state first used during the Lebanon war.

According to the English-language Jerusalem Post newspaper, the Israeli army will purchase $US100 million ($129 million) worth of Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) - low-cost kits produced by Boeing that turn free-fall bombs into guided "smart" munitions.

During last year's month-long war in Lebanon, Israel received an emergency aerial shipment of the munitions from the United States, which raised an international uproar after one of the cargo planes landed in an airport in Scotland against safety and security regulations.