IAF photo

Israeli F-35Is in action.

TEL AVIV: In a dizzying display of the endless complexities of the Middle East, Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu approved President Trump’s sale of F-35s to the UAE in return for the emirates opening diplomatic relations with Israel.

“Bibi used his open line to the White House to give the OK for this deal,” an Israeli source told Breaking D. He did not disclose this move to anyone, including Benny Ganz, Israel’s defense minister and alternative prime minister.

President Trump told reporters at a Wednesday news briefing the U.S. is considering selling “quite a few” US F-35s to the UAE. The sale is “under review,” he said. No American officials are saying anything, but Israeli sources say the story is that Bibi cooked up a private initiative and, with the help of his friends in Washington, got the normalization agreement for dinner and the option to sell the F-35 for dessert.

The Prime Minister’s Office said Tuesday that the agreement did not include any arms deals between the U.S and the UAE.

“To begin with, the prime minister opposed selling the F-35 and advanced weaponry to any countries in the Middle East, including Arab states that make peace with Israel,” the Prime Minister’s Office statement reads. “The prime minister expressed this consistent stance time after time before the US government and it hasn’t changed.” This statement was apparently issued for public consumption.

Israeli sources are split in their reactions about the possibility the UAE will get the F-35. Political sources say that this may pose a great danger to Israel. National security experts claim that if the F-35 is sold to the UAE it will not harm Israel’s security. The UAE, they say, has never been an enemy of Israel. The Israelis have already transferred “sensitive” technologies to the UAE without any harm.

Israeli experts told BD that if other Gulf countries follow and normalize relations with Israel, they may also ask for advanced American defense systems.

Nevertheless, according to Yedioth Ahronot daily, a senior Emirati source said that Netanyahu knew about the clause which would allow Washington to sell F-35s and advanced drones to the Gulf state and gave his approval to improve the military capability of the kingdom as part of the deal to normalize ties.

Retired Maj. Gen. Giora Eiland, former director of the National Security Council and former head of the Israel Defense Forces planning department, told BD that the issue should be viewed in its full context of the options for normalization with other Arab countries. “Of course that Israel is not happy with the idea of a sale of such a weapon system to another country in the Middle East, and if that sale may open the door for other such deals. I personally don’t know that there is an understanding to sell the F-35 to the UAE, but Israel should look at the greater picture.”

Meanwhile, Mossad director Yossi Cohen met the national security adviser of the UAE during a visit to Abu Dhabi, UAE state news agency WAM said.

Cohen and UAE Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed al Nahyan discussed ways in which to support the new accord.

“The two sides discussed prospects for cooperation in the security field, and shared perspectives on regional developments and issues of common interest, including both countries’ efforts to contain COVID-19,” WAM added.

Meanwhile, Israel’s second F-35I squadron has become operational; the process of adding “special systems” to the stealth aircraft continues.

Eitan Ben Eliyahu, former commander of the Israeli Air Force, told BD that Israel will add two main capabilities to the air force.:”The stealth is one major capability especially in our region where enemy countries are operating huge numbers of ground – air weapons. The second capability is the one that allows this aircraft to receive and distribute all kinds of combat data from a long list of sensors. This is very important for an air force that is performing combat missions almost continuously.”