if israel keeps making suicide compromises and treaties they will need them before 2015 .... they beter try to get them within the next year........

As far as I can determine, the decision was Barak's. And, as usual, Netanyahu can't bring himself to challenge Barak - even when he makes a bad decision. The claim that the F-35 is the world's "most advanced" remains highly debatable given its many limitations. But it certainly is the most expensive.

THE F35 IS NOT AS HALF AS GOOD AS THE F22.

courtesy of the US taxpayers. The vaunted IAF will now be undetected when they penetrate the hostile and incredibly dangerous airspace over Lebanon and Gaza.

How is Hizbollah's stockpiling of weapons compatible with peaceful intentions?

even ask?

Bibi refers to Barak. What? Obvama always refer to the Pentagon..and Gates, but the executive has the final say so..in all matters. Bibi is not an expert on planes. Perhaps the poster would prefer Livni, the bigmouth housewife? This is part of a much larger order, for over t5 warplanes. Lets not criticize the USA too much guys. They are paying ( taxpayers) for it. In 2015, Israel will have 4 platforms for its 500 nukes ( Dolphins, Jerichos, F-15Is (F16Is) and the F-35. If I were Ahmad, I would think twice about accusing we Zionists and Israel for all your problems. Tehran can be bombed to dust within a few seconds..go for it Israel, Show no mercy, if you are attacked. Iran wants to nuke USA cities..and make Jihad against Jews/Christians.

To the Muhammads who waste our time here: the final Jihad will be fought, but not against Jews/Christians (Infidels-see suras). Tehran/Damascus, etc. are in our gun sights. Saudi Arabia is also getting hundreds of planes..Egypt has more advance planes than Israel. Iran makes its own. Hez has Scud Ds..and Syria an asst of advanced WMD. Iraq is problematic...Israel is simply defending itself from the threatened Mother of all Battles, The Final JIhad. Tehran is a much larger targt than Tel Aviv, with more people 15m. A few nukes..ane good bye..join your buddies with those virgins. 30m Iranians/15m Syrians wasted in 5 wks according to last US study..if all out war. Israeli casualties..1m.

Is this a joke. israel is getting them 100% free from the US taxpayer. They are also getting 4B$ in offset purchases. It gets sillier.\Mo doubt they will make it safer when they fly against those deadly air defenses of Gaza and Lebanon

Top speed Mach 1.7 (Mach 1 is 768mph the speed of sound, and covers 1 mile in 5 seconds) fully armed. That is over 1300 mph, about 1 mile every 3 seconds. Flying low to evade radar, picked up by enemy radar at lets say 5 miles out. they have 15 seconds before the fighter passes over the target. Did you know some air to surface missiles have a top speed of Mach 4, that over 3000mph that will cover a mile in 1.25 sec. fired from 10 miles away it will hit its target in 12.5 seconds. To bad Israel can't get these jets sooner. But they do have some great missiles. That work fine off an F-16 fighter jet.

These planes are totally useless waste of money. Nobody wants them, but Obama give them away so that you guys can keep your jobs. Please, write your congressman and demand that the deal be canceled.

1. US military aid of an annual ~$2.75 billion is approximately 6-12 hours expenditure of the US ~$1.4 TRILLION annual budget, or ~1/600 of it. Do the math. (although BHO has yet to submit a budget-he just keep spending...); 2. Contractually, Israel must DONATE any improvements & advances it develops on US military platforms. Anecdotally, on the F-16 alone, there are ~750 alone. Do you remember the Patriot anti missile missile, which after 3 WEEKS of IDF service during Gulf War I had ~30% improvement made in accuracy? This, after decades of US development? Multiply that across all US platforms-vehicles, tanks, electronic warfare,, communications, ammunition, intelligence, military doctrine & methods-won with Israeli blood, sweat, casualties, & tears. Try & quantify that in dollars. The Washington Post tried (a few months ago, in a major article). The numbers benefiting the US were staggering. All of these, of course, are viable, performance enhancing engineering details that need to be thought out, developed, tested, & implemented to military aeronautical standards, AT ISRAEL'S EXPENSE - then virtually given away; 3. In many respects, it is like buying a computer printer; the cost is not in the acquisition, but in the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO): consumables, maintenance, & solidification as an in house strategic partner. We are talking about TENS of BILLIONS in future cash flow to US companies for maintenance, upgrades, developments, & implementation of improvements in other "full freight" sales. You can call it a "loss leader", but the all over effect is very profitable for the US & the suppliers. There is no free lunch...; 4. BTW, those jobs that are being maintained are high end, well paid white collar professional & high end manufacturing jobs-something that is disappearing from the US rapidly. Would you prefer that these workers try & find employment at McDonald's or Walmart? Perhaps become video game designers? Parking attendants? Used car salesmen? Lawyers? Politicians? 5. I don't know enough qualitatively about the F-35, although there appear to be many questions about its over all suitability for Israel. There is clearly an element of loyalty & arm twisting involved, especially regarding installation & usage of Israeli systems, including in house maintenance. In short, stop bleating-the US is getting the better end of the deal, especially long term.

It goes right back in the US economy and keeps US workers off welfare.

The F-35 is a good plane but Israel only needs afew, like 20. This plane is hard to detect on radar from the front but can be detected from the rear but fast enough to out run many anti-air missiles or counter them. The F-22 would be best for Israel but US not exporting them.

that was my reaction exactly

Now remember, son, those American weapons gave you & yours a decisive, qualitative edge in your past brawls with the Arabs. Just as those Yankee armaments saved many a Jewish life in past wars, so too will they save many more when the missiles launch to signal the beginning of the next one. Your enemies are legion, and you don't have the luxury of copping a hissy fit with the one country on the planet willing to provide you with the finest fighting gear available. Wise up.

israel will be palestine again and Jesus shall pray islamic prayer in al aqsa mosque too bad you will not enjoy those freebees from U.S.A

You know nothing. I have worked on both. The F-35 is quite formidable and the most advanced fighter in the world.

should our airfields strips be attacked but Israel should reactivate upgraded lavi project and increase UAV abilities

Now you need to keep Arab spies far away from the plans/workings of the F-35s for obvious reasons Shlomo?

As the tax payers in USA are paying through their noses to take care of their back-yard.A year back you suggested that Israel was paying for all these weapons!!

Not quite, dear. Israel did not have access to American military equipment until following the Six-Day War. Even so, in 1973, the United States withheld badly-needed spare parts, and it was not until Israel had encircled the Egyptian Third Army, cut them off from their supply lines, crossed the Suez Canal and stood poised to march on Cairo -- with NOTHING between the Canal and Cairo to stop them -- that the United States relented, and grudgingly provided spare parts. The late Golda Meir (z.l.) made it very clear to then-President Nixon that the nuclear option was very much in play. So please, Cameron. The United States, sadly, has not been as good or as staunch an ally as you appear to believe. The best lesson Israel came away with following 1973 was that it would not be a half bad idea to develop its own military industrial complex. I assure you that Israeli-manufactured armaments and munitions are at least as good as those of the United States; even, in some cases, better. So, were push to come to shove, Israel can take care of itself against our enemies which, as you quite accurately point out, are legion. More than take care of ourselves. We were forged in a very hard school. Do you really think we'll allow ourselves to be herded like sheep into a gas chamber? No, Cameron, we won't. And we have made sure that that will never again be our fate. With -- or without -- the United States.

Thank you so much for articulating so concisely and eloquently what I have been trying to explain for years. The overwhelming benefit of an association between Israel and the United States accrues overwhelmingly to the United States. It always has. Israel does not need the U.S. nearly as much as the U.S. needs Israel. As unbelievable as it may sound to those who are not knowledgeable about the strategic relationship between the United States and Israel, it happens to be true. What Israel has done and contributed and sacrificed on behalf of the United States is mind-boggling. Note, too, that Israel NEVER holds it over the heads of the United States .... unlike, say, the Saudis who act as if a tiny increase in production is a massive sacrifice .... because that is what friends do. I hope I will see the United States actually articulate its appreciation for Israel in my lifetime, but somehow, I don't believe I will.

Won't take long to reverse engineer and sell to china will it?

Sell to China? No Joey, you can thank your Labor hating Republican corporate elite for the China Syndrome. Bet you shop at Walmart, dork!

1. Thank you for your kind words- Shana Tova & all good things that emanate from this period; 2. I also think that you have written some wonderfully comprehensive, detailed, & substantiated responses, although (I hope you will accept some constructive literary criticism!), you recently appear to be drawn into some "ping pong" of frustrated & angry responses to the haters, instead of your usual cool, articulate dissection of their stupidities; 3. A self correction: The estimated 2010 US budget is $3.7+ Trillion dollars, not $1.4 Trillion (rounded). The projected DEFICIT is $1.4 Trillion. The US Budget is made of of ~$3.7 Trillion outlays & ~$2.2+ Trillion receipts (taxes, etc). Check www.whitehouse.gov & the OMB (Office of Management & Budget). There are Fact Sheets, & in particular, a 360+ page document showing all budgets going back to 1789, their deficits, surpluses, & the current Budget breakdown background; 4. If anything, my mistake reinforces my assertion - the US spends ~$10 billion PER DAY, so Israeli military aid (~$2.75 billion) is ~6-8 hours expenditure of the US Government-about HALF of what I stated, or ~1/1200 to 1/1460 of the US Budget. Even taking into account: * Lower Federal Budgets during the Bush (or even Clinton) years (increasing the %, for the mathematically inclined), * Other "offset" purchases from Israel; * Interest on those funds; * "Opportunity cost" (What else could the US do with that money, assuming that it would be spent); There is very little change, certainly nothing significant. Numbers don't lie, only people. 5. Oh, BTW - that "Foreign Aid" was actually to compensate for relinquishing the Ras Sudar (Sinai) oil fields to Egypt after the Begin-Sadat peace agreement; and, 6. Egypt receives the same amount (~$3 Billion per year), if not more. I reiterate: A tiny country like Israel would have been unsupported, ignored & wiped out long ago, if it wasn't a very positive contributor to the world.