F-35, all the fibrillations between the US and Israel on the Emirates
Israel puts the stakes on the US: no sales of F-35s to other countries in the Middle East, such as the United Arab Emirates. Here are the details
Friends yes, but not too much.
The Israeli government had to scream on Tuesday to dispel a misunderstanding inherent in the so-called "Abraham" agreements signed last week with the United Arab Emirates.
FOR NETANYAHU THE UAE-ISRAEL AGREEMENT DOES NOT INCLUDE CLAUSES ON MILITARY SALES
The misunderstanding was clarified by the prime minister himself, Benjamin Netanyahu , who explained how "the peace agreement with the UAE does not include any clause" on US military sales to the UAE, "and the US clarified to Israel who will always safeguard Israel's superiority ”.
To reporters, the Prime Minister's office specifically clarified that Netanyahu opposes "the sale of F-35 jets and other advanced weapons of any kind in the Middle East, including to Arab states that have made peace with Israel." A concept that, the office added, Bibi had already expressed in the past to Secretary of State Pompeo and the US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman.
Thus ends, with the authority of the head of the government's words, a nightmare that had haunted many members of the Israeli establishment since last week, worried that Netanytahu might have overthrown his old veto on the sale of sensitive weapons to Arab countries – and in particular on the F-35 area – on the wave of the excitement for the peace reached with the ancient Emirati opponent.
YEDIOTH AHRONOTH HAD SPREAD THE NEWS THAT THE USA ALLOWED FOR THE SALE OF THE F-35 TO THE UAE. NETANYAHU: "FAKE NEWS!"
To make them jump in the chair, and even to make them fear that there was some secret clause of the agreement that no one was aware of, was an article published on Tuesday in the newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth in which it was explained that the rationale of the agreements of Abraham it dates back to the US desire to sell weapons to the UAE in large quantities, including F-35s.
But Netanyahu was quick to define the article as "fake news", and to reiterate that "Israel has not given any approval to the sale of weapons (….) despite certain reports from the media and the left". On the contrary, Netanyahu continued, Israel will do everything in its power to maintain its military leadership over its neighbors.
The incident would have ended here, if Donald Trump hadn't had a hand in it a few hours ago.
Speaking at a press conference from Washington yesterday, Trump said the US is contemplating the sale of the F-35s to the Emirates.
TRUMP JUST MENTIONED THE SALE OF JETS TO THE UAE: "THEY HAVE MONEY AND WOULD LIKE TO ORDER A CERTAIN NUMBER OF F-35"
The tycoon explained to reporters that Abu Dhabi is interested in buying "a certain number", stressing that the country is so rich that it can afford it, and that the sale is now being analyzed.
"They have the money and would like to order a number of F-35s," Trump explained to reporters before adding that the Lockheed Martin multi-role fighter "is the largest fighter in the world, you know, and it's invisible, completely invisible. ".
"They would like to buy the F-35s and we'll see what happens," concluded Trump, before saying that the deal, if closed, would represent "a big step forward for peace in the Middle East."
In short, we have now discovered that Netanyahu and Trump have two different conceptions of peace in the Middle East, and that of Bibi – as opposed to that of his US colleague – does not contemplate the availability of the F-35s to anyone other than Israel.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/f-35-tutte-le-fibrillazioni-fra-usa-e-israele-sugli-emirati/ on Thu, 20 Aug 2020 07:53:14 +0000.