Netanyahu: Israel categorically against sale of F-35 to Turkey
Israel categorically opposes the sale of American fifth-generation F-35 fighters to Turkey, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday.
"Turkey has aggressive aspirations... This is not a force that promotes peace and stability," Netanyahu said in an interview with CNN. "I would not do that," he added.
The Israeli prime minister again said that the supply of F-35 fighters by the United States "would upset the balance of power in the Middle East."
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he plans to lift restrictive measures against Turkey.
"We are going to lift sanctions. We do not want sanctions against our friends," Trump told reporters at a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the NATO summit.
The American leader also did not rule out the sale of American F-35 fighters to Turkey. "We will definitely consider this possibility," he said.
Washington imposed sanctions and excluded Turkey from the F-35 fighter program in response to its acquisition in 2019 of the Russian S-400 missile defense system. The U.S. Congress also passed a law prohibiting any sales of F-35s to Turkey as long as Ankara possesses S-400 systems, stating that the Russian system poses a security threat to American-made combat aircraft.
Washington noted that the S-400 is incompatible with NATO systems and also expressed concerns that the joint use of the S-400 and F-35 fighters would allow Russia to gain access to data on radar stealth and other secret characteristics of the fighters.
As Turkish President Erdogan stated on Tuesday, following the NATO summit in Ankara, a decision may be made to lift the ban on the supply of American F-35 fighters to Ankara.
"I believe that a positive decision on the F-35 issue may be made following the summit," Turkish media quoted Erdogan as saying.
"The issue related to the F-35 is not new. We have discussed it with the United States before, and we have received assurances regarding five fighters," the Turkish president added.
Erdogan expressed confidence that the promises previously given by Washington will be fulfilled. "President Trump always fulfills what he promised," he stressed.
Source: Interfax
