Members of Israel’s Security Cabinet were briefed Tuesday night on the emerging F-35 deal between Washington and Ankara. Israel’s assessment is that the sale can still be prevented, despite signals from U.S. President Donald Trump that he may agree to sell the aircraft to Turkey.
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Israel’s assessment is that the sale can still be prevented, despite signals from Donald Trump that he may agree to sell the aircraft to Turkey
(Photo: Kent NISHIMURA / AFP, REUTERS/RONEN ZVULUN, AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool, File, AP Photo/Suhaimi Abdullah file)
Jerusalem is working to convince the Americans not to provide the jets to Turkey. If the sale proceeds, Israeli officials want Washington to limit the capabilities of the aircraft delivered to Ankara.
“This is not a zero-or-one game,” a senior Israeli official said in response to Trump’s hints that he may sell Turkey the advanced stealth fighters. “Trump can still present demands as a condition for receiving the aircraft.”
One of the conditions Israel wants the United States to raise with Turkey concerns what Israeli officials describe as terror financing. Israel has told Washington that funds for Hamas and Hezbollah pass through Turkey and that Trump could condition any assistance to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on shutting down bank accounts, apps and other financial channels.
Israeli F-35
(Photo: IDF)
“Our air superiority will be preserved in any case, but of course we want it preserved even more strongly,” a senior Israeli official said. “Our assessment is that this can still be canceled. In the end, there are many, many details. There are many versions of this aircraft, and we are trying to influence this as much as possible.”
Another senior official in Jerusalem said Trump had created what he called “quantum diplomacy.”
“Trump is playing on the whole field,” the official said. “He can be Bibi’s best friend and Erdogan’s best friend at the same time, even though they want to kill each other. He is playing across the field with U.S. interests, and that is what we have to work with. From our perspective, this is not over yet. Netanyahu will probably fly to Trump next week and raise this.”
Turning to Congress
Israel is also expected to work with Congress in an attempt to block the F-35 deal, relying on U.S. laws requiring Washington to preserve Israel’s qualitative military edge.
Those laws require consultations with Israel and possible compensation, such as upgraded versions of aircraft, if a regional arms sale could affect Israel’s military advantage.
A security official said Tuesday that selling advanced stealth fighters to Turkey would be “very bad,” but not a disaster.
Still, the official added: “Who knows who will come after Erdogan? They are only escalating, and in the Middle East there is no vacuum. Iran has fallen, a new power will rise, and Turkey wants to be that power.”
According to the official, F-35s in Turkey’s hands are not expected to harm the IDF’s freedom of action, “but they will challenge us.”
“For now, we are focused on preventing it,” the official said. “It is not clear that this is possible, but we are not giving up.”