The UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said today that his country's agreement with Israel a week ago to normalize relations should remove any obstacle for the United States to sell F-35 (F-35) fighters to his country, after Tel Aviv expressed its rejection of this deal, citing Preserving Israel's qualitative military edge in the region.
The Emirati official said - in an online interview with the "Atlantic Council" research institution - that the UAE's requests are legitimate, and that it must obtain the F-35 fighter jets, adding that "the idea of a state of war, or war with Israel no longer exists." No new requests have been submitted to the US administration regarding the combat aircraft since the agreement with Israel.
Washington sold the F-35, which is the most advanced warplane in the world, to allies including Turkey, South Korea, Japan and Israel, but selling it to an Arab country requires a deeper review, given the decades-old US policy that is based on Israel maintaining a qualitative military advantage in the Middle East. Abu Dhabi - one of Washington's closest allies in the Middle East - had asked years ago to purchase the combat aircraft produced by the American "Lockheed Martin" company.
Emirates 🇦🇪 After it was printed with America It wanted to reward it with the F-35 aircraft deal, and Israel objected 😀
A short insulting story # Palestine_My case pic.twitter.com/1KGhtAV3Hl
- People's Revolution (@ThawretShaaab) August 20, 2020
Trump's statement And
US President Donald Trump said yesterday that the UAE is interested in buying the F-35 and is ready to pay huge sums for it. During a press conference on Wednesday, Trump expressed his confidence that the UAE has sufficient funds to pay for the aircraft, indicating that the potential deal is under study. "We'll see what happens," he added.
The Israeli Jerusalem Post quoted the US ambassador to Israel David Friedman as saying that Washington intends to sell F-35 fighters to the UAE, as part of the latter's agreement to normalize relations with Israel, which was mediated by the United States.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said two days ago that his government would oppose any such sales to Abu Dhabi, calling for the need to maintain the Israeli military superiority in the region. In an interview with Israel's Channel 13 television, Israeli Education Minister Yoav Galant accused Netanyahu's political opponents of publishing false allegations that the UAE's purchase of F-35s is part of the deal to normalize relations.
The Israeli newspaper, Yediot Aharonot, reported two days ago - citing American sources - that it said that the "peace agreement" to be concluded between Israel and the UAE would include a secret clause under which the UAE would obtain advanced American weapons. The newspaper said that these fighters will be F-35s, as well as Drones are among the most advanced, with an estimated value of tens of billions, indicating that this was a condition set by Abu Dhabi in exchange for the completion of the normalization agreement.