The United States will ensure that Israel maintains a military advantage in the Middle East over all future US arms deals with the United Arab Emirates, US Prime Minister Mike Pompeo said on Monday.
“The United States has a legal requirement regarding qualitative military edge. We will uphold that,” Pompeo told reporters after a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem.
Netanyahu said he was concerned about the issue by Pompeo, who began a visit to the Middle East that would show US support for Israeli-Arab peace efforts and the building of a front against Iran. It will also include Sudan, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
On August 13, a US-brokered deal on normalizing relations between Israel and the UAE was announced. But there has been some dissent in Israel about the possibility that the Gulf force will now get advanced American weapons such as the F-35 stealth fighter jet.
Pompeo said Washington had given the UAE more than 20 years of military support, measures he described as necessary to deter shared threats from Iran – including Israel’s rival.
“We are deeply committed to doing that, to achieving that, and we will do it in a way that maintains our commitment to Israel and I am confident that that goal will be achieved,” Pompeo said.
Bruised by the UN Security Council’s rejection of a US draft resolution extending an arms embargo on Iran, the Trump administration is seeking a “snapback” of UN sanctions imposed as part of a nuclear deal deal with Tehran in 2015.
“We are determined to use every tool we have to ensure that they [Iran] can not access advanced weapon systems, “said Pompeo. We think it’s in the best interest of the whole world. “
The Palestinians, meanwhile, have warned the US administration against trying to put themselves in the diplomatic pressure of the Middle East.
“Recruiting Arabs to recognize Israel and open embassies does not make Israel a winner,” Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said in an interview. “You put the whole region in a situation of loss-making because you are designing the way for an eternal conflict in the region.”
SOURCE:
Reuters news agency
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