World Notes ISRAEL

The runways at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International Airport were unusually congested last week -- but this time by people. Several hundred aircraft workers gathered to protest a Cabinet decision to scrap the Lavi jet fighter. After months of impassioned debate, the final ballot was close: 12 to 11, with one abstention. Most Labor Party members voted against the project, while most Likud members were for it. After the vote Likud's Minister Without Portfolio Moshe Arens angrily quit the Cabinet.

An advanced attack aircraft, the Lavi was a financial turkey. Slated to cost $800 million when first approved in 1979, the project has set Israel back $1.8 billion, most of it provided by Washington. An additional $2.75 billion in cost overruns was projected by 1993. The Reagan Administration, which opposed further investment, has pledged early delivery of up to 100 U.S.F-16C jet fighters in the 1990s.