Israel strongly opposes US sale of F-35 fighter jets to Türkiye, Netanyahu say

Israel is strongly opposed to the sale of U.S.-made fifth-generation F-35 fighter jets to Türkiye, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview with CNN on July 7.

“Türkiye has aggressive ambitions… This is not a force for peace and stability… I wouldn’t do it,” Netanyahu said.

The Israeli prime minister again warned that supplying F-35 fighter jets to Türkiye would “destroy the balance of power in the Middle East,” according to CNN.

Netanyahu also cautioned that selling Washington’s most advanced fighter aircraft to Türkiye would not make Ankara a friend of the United States.

“He is not an exemplary ally of the United States. He threatens to destroy my country, the only Jewish state,” Netanyahu said.

Days earlier, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said in an interview with CNN Türk that Israel had “become a burden humanity can no longer bear.”

Netanyahu also said he and U.S. President Donald Trump agree on almost all issues, although some differences remain.

“He is the president of the United States. He does what is good for the United States. I am the prime minister of Israel, I do what is important for Israel, and most of the time those things overlap,” Netanyahu said.

During a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara on July 7, Trump said he planned to lift restrictive measures against Ankara and did not rule out the sale of U.S.-made F-35 fighter jets to Türkiye.

Washington imposed sanctions on Türkiye and removed it from the F-35 program after Ankara purchased Russia’s S-400 air defense system in 2019. The U.S. Congress also passed legislation barring any F-35 sale to Türkiye as long as Ankara retains the S-400 system, saying the Russian system poses a security risk to U.S.-made combat aircraft.