Turkey’s F-35s Far From First Time Israel Opposed A U.S. Fighter Sale

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reiterated Israel's opposition to the U.S. selling F-35 fighter jets to Turkey, citing concerns that it "would destroy the power balance in the Middle East, because Turkey, I think, has aggressive aspirations." This marks the first time Israel has opposed a U.S. arms sale to a NATO member, though it has historically objected to American fighter jet sales to various Arab nations.

• Turkey was expelled from the F-35 program in 2019 after acquiring Russian S-400 air defense systems and hopes to rejoin by removing these systems.
• Past Israeli objections include Saudi Arabia's F-15 acquisitions in 1975, 1992, and 2010, and F-16 sales in 1997, as well as Qatar's F-15SE request.
• Despite objections, some sales proceeded with U.S. reassurances of Israel's military edge, and Israeli firms even secured subcontracts for equipment on some of these jets.
• Israel also opposed F-35 sales to the UAE in 2020, despite normalization, and previously expressed concerns over F-35 sales to Egypt, which ultimately did not materialize.