now the IAF can reconfigure the plane with IAF-specific avionics, a great choice for a multi-role fighter too. now if the US could only sell Israel some used F-117s, Ahmanidejad would think twice about making any 'holocaust' comments.

Israel, a second rank military power from now on. F 35 is a dudd. Absolutely not en par with F 22. A disastrous strategic decision, that makes Israel dependent on Europe and especially the British !

silly comment. Israel being one of the top producers in military hi-tec would know very well what and why they choose what they choose. Israel doesnt waste its time and money on duds.

Knowing the logistics of the F-35, allow me to more than assure you that there is nothing on the planet that is going to come close to this machine. Russia fears it and so won't all of Israel's enemies. This thing will fly downtown Moscow and Putin will know nothing till its 900 miles out of range and his eardrums will be split with the sonic boom!!! Way to go Israel!!!

I thought some people might like to know that, before they break upon the champagne and start celebrating.

While I applaud this deal, (perhaps Bush/McCain can now convince millions of Jews to vote Republican Nov 3 (I am one), Israel and the US are still stalling their joint attack on Iran's nuke sites. I have written my legislators, and the President, to finally take out those sites..and deal Iran a final blow for freedom and the survival of Israel. Israel/US have the means.,.right now, to deal Ahmad a serious blow..F15s, F16s, Phantom 2,000s, equipped with tactical nukes..will suffice. We Jews must show the world, "Don't tread on me". We are not Holocaust Jews.

Lies !! Israel does not buy anything .This is a swop deal Israel must give Yehuda and Shomron (west bank) to the arabs (appease the arabs .Need the oil) and will be given a few F35 jets which in any case are already out of date.Rice wants the jews out of Israel

ISSS NICE

The F-35 is not a bad fighter at all, and the US is unwilling to sell the F-22. We had very little choice. You're right that the F-22 generally outclasses the F-35, but the F-35 is a whole new league compared to Israel's current fleet of F-16s.

Please Explain....

Israel should also get the F-22. The F-35 is not the top of the line.

sell them to our not so friendly friends to the south and east of you we can expect good things for a while.

don't warry, not only plane in hangar

Israel wont pay for this, the US will. but remember Israel, nothing is free in life, EVERYTHING has a price

Long live our Israeli friends! I hope to see your new fighters in action over Iran.

It seems Israel does not want to learn from its previous costly blunders.Surely Israel won the 1956 & 1967 wars in less than a week, but the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the 1982 Operation Peace For Galilee ,the 1991 Iraqi missiles at the depth of Israel, & the 2006 Israel-Hizbullah war all showed Israel how shallow it is and how useless its sophisticated weapons could be. Hizbullah organization pulverized all northern Israel in the Second Lebanon War despite the ferocious & continuous IAF raids against scores of Lebanese civilian tartgets. The best security for Israel is fair & just peace with the Arabs & Palestinians. Only after resigning from his premiership post did Ehud Olmert have the guts to admit openly that Israel would have to pull out of almost all Palestinian & Syrian territories the IDF is still controlling. Some notable Israelis are now overtly admitting that Israel is bleeding itself quite rapidly...

The F-35 is a completely different role aircraft. It is not meant to be like the F-15 or F-22 as a Air-Superiority fighter. It is more built along the lines of the F-16 and F-18, a "cheap" multi-role fighter-bomber.

It is important for Americans to understand that they cannot afford a weak Israel, one that is "tired of fighting" but rather need to support voices in Israel that are capable of making the case for a robust offensive against the forces of global jihad that seek the destruction of the Jewish state as a step towards the defeat of the US and the subjugation of Christianity. Israel is a central front—if not the central front—in the war against Islamic fascism and global jihad as explained at : http://xrl.us/bjfox

they'll tell a lie and believe it.

living in dada land or, who knows, you are pulled by someone else's strings. How many times have we not tried the peace approch with you guys ? Every time it failed miserably because you were not stisfied with anything. Our peaceful hand streched to the palestinians was always "bitten" by terrorist bombs against innocent civilians. On top of it you even had the impertinence and inhumanity to call these barbarian acts of terror as warfare. So,you see Abdel Karim, there is no way we are moving an inch more unless you first put your war philosophy to rest and start real talks of living side by side.

"courageous" view point signed by a no less "courageous" name.LOL

Excuse me, Alll of nothern Israel was pulverized in the second Lebanon war? I don't know where the heck you get your information but as one who stayed behind in Haifa Bay during the war we were not pulverised, infact life went on pretty much as close to normal here. Malls were open, people went to work,I was driving everyday into Haifa for medical treatment! There was very little damage done to the Haifa area as a matter of fact ,so stop spreading your lies we were just inconvincenced that's all !

The F35 is a piece of junk the only thing its got going for it is its stealth capability and in the case of the STOVOL version it has a vertical take off ability Allthough superior to the aging F16 design compared to the latest generation of G4 fighters like the Eurofighter Typhoon and Mirage 2000 its inferior and twice the price. As a result of its reasonbly small size and the fact that all weapons are stored in an internal bomb bay its payload capacity is lower then G4 jets. If its going to carry external fuel tanks which would be needed if it was going to reach Iran then that would affect its stealth capabilities which are allready inferior to the US F35s which are going to have a higher level of stealth than the export verison. Countries like Egypt & Saudi Arabia will also have the F35 not long after Israel because the US wants to sell as many of the things as possible & they are considered friendly states so F35 is not going to give Israel the tactical edge in future. Its a nice new toy nothing more.

A big fight has been going on for thousands of years between two groups of people in Palestine. It looks like a big fight forever. The US government is joining on the Jewish side and bringing blood debt down on all of us. I want the government to say what they believe and why they are doing it. They only say a lot of nonsense. Israel is not defending itself it is establishing itself and growing. A lot of people have to be screwed to make this happen. RA