IDF worried sale of plane to Saudi Arabia will impact its own orders, degrade Israeli air superiority
U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday said he plans to sell U.S.-made F-35 stealth fighter jets to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ahead of the official White House visit of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump responded to a question regarding a decision to sell the stealth fighter to the Kingdom.
Asked, “Are you planning to sell the F-35 to Saudi Arabia?” Trump responded in the affirmative: “I am planning on doing it. They want to buy them, they’ve been a great ally,” Trump responded.
“Yeah, I will say that we will be doing that, we will be selling F-35s.”
Last week, Trump told reporters that he was considering the sale of the advanced stealth fighter jets to Saudi Arabia.
Bin Salman is scheduled for an official White House visit on Tuesday, where the two are expected to discuss the sale of the jets, along with a range of business and economic agreements, with the U.S. president seeking to tie down around $600 billion in Saudi investments, promised during his visit there in May.
While Trump is expected to raise the issue of normalization with Israel in his discussions with Mohammed Bin Salman, Saudi Arabia has consistently said it will only pursue normalization after a clear path to a Palestinian state is agreed upon by Israel.
However, Israel welcomed the adoption of Monday’s UN Security Council Resolution 2803, which includes the possibility of a “pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood.”
Saudi Arabia is hoping to modernize its air force to counter regional security challenges, particularly from Iran and possibly Turkey.
In his comments announcing his decision to sell the planes, Trump mentioned the Iranian threat as an area of concern.
The sale of the fighters, if approved by Congress, would mark a significant policy shift by the U.S. for the Middle East region.
Currently, Israel is the only Middle Eastern country to operate the F-35, and a sale of the plane to Saudi Arabia would alter the balance of power. By U.S. law, the sale of military equipment to countries in the Middle East must maintain a “qualitative military edge” for Israel, due to the significant levels of aggression towards the Jewish state by Arab and Muslim countries.
MORE DETAILS: Since 2008, American law has required every administration to protect Israel’s qualitative military edge by certifying that any major arms sale in the Middle East does not erode Israel’s technological and operational superiority. Congress strengthened the… https://t.co/1Khqm6hTz2
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While Israeli politicians had hoped to see the U.S. president tie an agreement to sell the planes to a formal commitment to normalization with Israel, it appears that no such commitment has been made by Saudi Arabia.
On Sunday, the IDF submitted a position paper to the Israeli government, expressing its objection to the sale of the F-35 to the Saudis, warning against the potential loss of air superiority. Israel has previously opposed the sale of the stealth fighter to Turkey and even the United Arab Emirates.
Besides the erosion of Israeli air superiority, the IDF is also concerned that sales of the advanced fighter to Saudi Arabia could interfere with the delivery of parts for its planes and delay the delivery of additional F-35s to the Israel Air Force.
The Israeli government has already approved the purchase of additional F-35s for the creation of a fourth squadron.
Relax, and keep in mind that the overwhelming majority of those planes sold to the Saudis will be flown by Arab pilots.
Email received from Janet Levy:
It is a terrible blow from Trump to be so ignored, but this looks like one more reason for Israel to pursue her own air and other armaments. It’s a big shift psychologically, but can be done.