Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin (BB) Netanyahu Privately forgave the sale of advanced U.S. weapons The United Arab Emirates (UAE), despite publicly opposing the deal, Sources told The New York Times.
The Israeli prime minister approved the sale in an effort to “normalize” relations between his country and the emirate before news of the diplomatic success was released late last month, officials said.
President Trump
Donald John Trumpcanosha Mayor lifts curfew citing some ‘peaceful’ nights, MSNBC’s Joy Reid admits ‘framing’ of Muslim comments ‘didn’t work’ Conway says more ‘hidden’ Trump voters will help him win re-election Announced in August that the UAE would recognize Israel in return for the promised end of the Israeli annexation of the West Bank region.
Following the announcement of the diplomatic agreement, the Trump administration pushed forward an arms sale deal with the UAE that would include the purchase of F-35 stealth fighters and armed drones, according to the Times.
The Times reported that U.S. The deal also includes previous unresolved shipments of EA-18G Groller jets.
Netanyahu has previously called for sales reports “Fake News” And insisted that Israel would not support any deal in those circumstances. Officials who spoke to the Times, however, opposed his public statements.
U.S. officials insisted the deal was not a direct reward for the UAE’s agreement to recognize Israel, but said the country’s agreement had softened opposition to such U.S. sales.
According to the Times, the deal is facing a backlash in Congress due to the anti-arms law.
Ron Dermer, Israel’s ambassador to the US, said in a statement that Netanyahu’s signing of the sale was “not true”. Dermer added that he believes the Trump administration is “fully committed to maintaining Israeli military gains.”
Hussein Ibishe, a scholar at Washington’s Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, told the Times that he had heard from sources in all three nations that the Israeli prime minister had approved the sale but needed to save face.
“I have heard from all three parties that he has given green light to this.”
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