TEL AVIV [MENL] -- Israel has pledged to report to the United States military and dual-use sales to China.

Israeli officials said the Defense Ministry has relayed this pledge to the United States in an attempt to end the crisis in defense relations linked to Israeli military sales to China. The officials said this was the first time that Israel would formally report arms sales to a foreign power.

"The commitment is there and we are now working out a mechanism for reporting and verification," an official said.

Over the last 20 years, Israel sold China billions of dollars in military equipment. On Thursday, a Foreign Ministry official and former consul-general, Yitzhak Gerberg, said China has been Israel's largest military client in terms of revenue.