It’s almost as though the historic normalization deal was pushed aside Tuesday morning amid reports that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had done the unthinkable: given up Israel’s qualitative military edge by allowing the United Arab Emirates to purchase the F-35 stealth jet.Though Israeli officials have either denied the report by Yediot Ahronot or declined to comment, the idea of such a clause in the agreement signed between the two Middle Eastern countries has left many concerned.The agreement itself was kept secret from Israel’s Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, both former chiefs of staff. So who is to say that the agreement doesn’t have a “secret clause” allowing the UAE to purchase the advanced stealth fighter?Don’t forget that Netanyahu has pulled such a move before, in 2011 when he allowed Germany to sell two advanced submarines to Egypt in 2015. The deal was made without the knowledge of then-Defense Minister Moshe ‘Boogie’ Yaalon and then-Chief of Staff Benny Gantz on grounds of state security.US President Donald Trump’s administration has said that the agreement could allow the Emirates to clinch unspecified new US arms sales, and the UAE, which is among the world’s biggest defense spenders, is currently in the process of building up its armed forces. Abu Dhabi has made no secret that it is interested in purchasing the fifth-generation fighter jet.Israel was the second country after the United States to have received the joint strike fighter and is the only air force in the Middle East to fly the state-of-the-art aircraft.Its air force was the first to use the F-35 in combat in 2018, just months after it declared operational capability. Since then, it’s been reported by foreign sources to be playing a central role in Israel’s war-between-wars campaign against Iran.By November, the Israeli Air Force will have 27 F-35i Adir aircraft and will establish three full squadrons of the advanced jet in the coming years. The IAF is also now considering whether to purchase an additional 25 F-35s to give the Jewish state a total of 75 stealth fighter jets.The F-35i Adir is heavily tailor-made to Israel’s own specifications and is embedded with Israeli-made electronic warfare pods as well as Israeli weaponry, all installed once the planes have landed in Israel.Israel is also one of the few countries allowed to modify the advanced fighter. At the beginning of the month, it received an experimental F-35 which will act as a test bed for the country’s planned modifications.The experimental F-35 “is the only one in the world and unique for the IAF,” a source in the air force recently told The Jerusalem Post, adding that Israel wanted this plane so that it could integrate and certify unique Israeli technology onto it.And while the United States has kept most of the advanced jets’ capabilities confidential, sources have told the Post that there are things that Israel knows about the plane that even Washington doesn’t.Would this ability to modify the jet keep Israel’s qualitative military edge?
AMERICA HAS long allowed Israel to retain a qualitative military edge in the Middle East, and requests by Gulf countries to Washington to provide them with F-35s have repeatedly been denied.Not only would selling UAE the advanced jet be a risk to Israel’s qualitative military edge, but it could also pose a problem to Washington since the Gulf country has increased its dealings with Moscow and China in recent years.Over the years a seesaw of reports emerged regarding whether the Gulf country was in talks with Washington about the advanced jet. In 2017, US Air Force vice chief of staff Gen. Stephen Wilson confirmed at the Dubai airshow that the US was preparing to open up talks with the UAE on the stealth fighter. The following year, deputy commander of the UAE Air Force Brig.-Gen. Rashed Al Shamsi was quoted as saying that Washington “could now be willing to sell” the F-35 to the UAE.But this past November, Defense News reported that the Pentagon’s head of acquisition Ellen Lord said that Washington was not engaged in discussion with Abu Dhabi on a potential sale of the F-35 and was instead focused on upgrading the Gulf country’s fleet of F-16s.Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs R. Clarke Cooper was also quoted by CNBC in November as saying that there were no talks with the UAE to purchase the jet.“No, no,” he said. “The question [of] are there any considerations or conversations about the F35? The short answer is ‘no.’”One year yes, another year no. So is this year any different? Has Netanyahu really done the unthinkable for normalization? Let’s wait and see.
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