Netanyahu says Turkey is not a US ally as F-35 sale considered

Netanyahu said approving the transfer would ‘destroy the power balance in the Middle East.’

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voiced opposition Tuesday to a possible US sale of F-35 stealth fighter jets to Turkey, warning that the transfer would alter the regional balance of power even as he emphasized that he and President Donald Trump remain closely aligned on broader issues.

Speaking in an interview with CNN, Netanyahu said he had personally urged Trump not to approve the sale after the US president indicated earlier in the day that Washington was considering supplying the aircraft to Ankara.

Netanyahu argued that providing Turkey with the advanced fighter jets would strengthen a government he described as hostile to both Israel and the United States.

“This is not a force for peace and stability. When you give them that power, you’re going to see aggression in its wake,” Netanyahu said.

He also said the aircraft sale “doesn’t make Turkey a friendly state to the United States,” describing the Turkish government as “a regime that’s infected with the Muslim Brotherhood, which hates the United States.”

“He’s not exactly a model ally of the United States,” Netanyahu said of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “He threatens to destroy my country, the one and only Jewish state.”

Netanyahu said approving the transfer would “destroy the power balance in the Middle East.”

Despite his objections, Netanyahu sought to minimize any suggestion of a rift with Trump, saying the two leaders continue to agree on most major issues.

“He’s the President of the United States. He does what is good for the United States,” Netanyahu said. “I’m the Prime Minister of Israel, I do what is what is important for Israel, and most of the time these things are identical.”

Relations between Israel and Turkey have continued to deteriorate.

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

Israel’s foreign minister condemned the statement, calling it “textbook incitement to genocide.”

Earlier Tuesday, Trump described Turkey as an “extraordinary” US ally and indicated he was willing to reconsider the ban on F-35 sales to Ankara that was imposed during his first administration while meeting Erdogan during the NATO summit in Turkey.