The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denied that the country approved the potential sale of the F-35 stealth fighter jet from the United States to the United Arab Emirates as part of the historic normalization agreement that the two peoples announced last week.
The normalization of relations between Israel and the UAE will allow greater political, economic and technological cooperation between the two Middle Eastern nations, and will also have won the FAVA with the administration of President Donald Trump facilitating the deal.
There have also been speculations that the deal will allow the UAE to buy US military equipment that was previously withheld to protect Israel’s military edge over potential regional enemies. Israel is the only Middle Eastern nation armed with the F-35 — America’s fifth generation fighter jet named as the most advanced in the world.
Israel’s Ynet news website reported Tuesday that the standardization agreement contained a secret clause approving the sale of F-35 jets and advanced drones to the UAE. Innet quoted names of US and Emirati sources in their report.
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But the office of Netanyahu and other Israeli officials rejected the report. “Initially, the Prime Minister opposed the F-35 and advanced arms sales to all countries in the Middle East, including Arab states making peace with Israel,” a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office said. the president The Jerusalem Post to read.
“The Prime Minister has repeatedly stated this consistent attitude to the US Government and it has not changed,” the Netanyahu bureau said. “The peace agreement with the UAE does not contain an article on the matter and the US has made it clear to Israel that it will always take care to protect Israel’s qualitative edge.”
De Peal reported that Netanyahu pronounced this place to US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman on July 7 and to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, via Friedman, on July 8.
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Netanyahu informed coalition partner and defense minister Benny Gantz – who will become prime minister in November 2021 – of these talks on July 29, while Israeli ambassador to the US Ron Dermer emphasized Israel’s position for Pompeo during a meeting on August 3.
Gantz told reporters Israel would not surrender regional military superiority, declaring on his release from the hospital, where he underwent back surgery: “It is possible and necessary to make a peace agreement while remaining responsible for our security.”
Gantz said selling the F-35 – which he called “the best fighter jet in the world” – to other regional countries “is not a good idea.”
Israel’s intelligence minister Eli Cohen said on Tuesday that the government would oppose any US arms sale that could undermine Israel’s military superiority in the region. “It did not happen,” Cohen said of the F-35 agreement in an interview with the state-run Israeli public broadcaster.
“Israel’s policy is to maintain its military advantage in the region,” Cohen said. “That is also our question from the US. It must respect the request. The US is also not asking us to sell weapons we have to other countries and we respect that.”
A State Department spokesman referred Newsweek to the Israeli and UAE governments for clarification on the terms of the agreement. The spokesman said the state department will not discuss any potential or pending arms sales until they are formally informed to Congress.
Newsweek has contacted the UAE government to comment on the Ynet report.
This article has been updated to include comments from the State Department.
VINCENT JANNINK / ANP / AFP via Getty Images / Getty
