Netanyahu’s covert campaign to block F-35 sales to Saudi Arabia and Türkiye.
According to the American website Al-Monitor, while the US government is considering selling advanced F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia and Turkey, informed sources say that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has launched a covert campaign to prevent these deals; an effort aimed at maintaining Israel’s “qualitative military superiority” in the region, while Netanyahu is trying to avoid any confrontation with US President Donald Trump.
According to the report, on December 1, in a secret meeting with Frank St. John, the chief operating officer of Lockheed Martin in occupied Jerusalem, Netanyahu discussed strategies for maintaining the Israeli regime’s qualitative military superiority and the official US commitment to this regime, the possible consequences of the agreement to sell F-35 fighter jets to Ankara and Riyadh, and ways to limit it.
Israeli officials consider the agreement with Saudi Arabia to be worrying but manageable; Because Washington has promised that the fighters delivered to Riyadh will be delivered to Saudi Arabia with a degraded configuration and without upgrades specific to Israel, including advanced electronic warfare and radar jamming systems. In return, Tel Aviv will receive fully upgraded versions of the fighter.
However, according to Al-Monitor, Turkey is Tel Aviv’s main concern. The leaders of the Israeli regime claim that the history of harsh statements by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan against the Israeli regime, especially during the Gaza war and the tensions in Syria, along with the stealth characteristics of the F-35 fighter, could weaken Israel’s defense capabilities. Netanyahu also considered the possible sale of this fighter to Ankara unlikely, but he emphasized that he would oppose such an agreement more strongly than in the past.
In this context, Netanyahu, contrary to past approaches, this time, instead of openly pressuring the US government, is seeking to gain support from Trump’s close circle, including Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and special advisor, Steve Whittaker, the White House’s special envoy for the Middle East, Mike Waltz, a staunch supporter of the Zionist regime and US ambassador to the UN, and Miriam Adelson, a pro-Israel lobbyist with influence in the White House.