Israel is pressing the Trump administration to condition any sale of advanced F-35 stealth fighter jets to Saudi Arabia on Riyadh agreeing to normalize relations with Jerusalem and join the Abraham Accords, setting up a high-stakes showdown at the White House on Tuesday as President Donald Trump hosts Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to discuss a massive defense deal that could include the supersonic aircraft.
Israeli officials told Axios that Jerusalem does not oppose selling the state-of-the-art jets to Saudi Arabia — unlike Turkey, which Israel strongly opposes receiving the aircraft — but stressed Washington must extract diplomatic concessions in return.
“We told the Trump administration that the supply of F-35s to Saudi Arabia needs to be subject to Saudi normalization with Israel,” one Israeli official said, warning that providing advanced weaponry without securing normalization would be “a mistake and counterproductive.”
The concern reflects Israel’s unique position as the only country in the Middle East currently operating F-35s, with 45
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