A senior Israeli official told Breitbart News on Wednesday that it was necessary for Congress to block sales of the F-35 Lightning to Turkey to prevent aggression toward Israel.
The Lockheed Martin F-35, modified by Israel and known in the Israeli Air Force as the Adir, is the most advanced American warplane. Israel used it to great effect in the 12 Day War against Iran.
The official raised the remote but growing possibility of military clashes with Turkey, which had stated a goal of restoring the Ottoman Empire, complete with control of Jerusalem, Israel’s capital.
Israel would act to block Turkey if necessary, but would prefer to avoid conflict, according to the official.
Congress could block F-35 sales to Turkey, and Israel hoped it would do so, the official said.
Turkey, a member of NATO, had been one of Israel’s most important allies in the Muslim world until recent years, when President Recep Tayyip Erdogan took an antagonistic stance towards the Jewish state.
Erdogan routinely compares Netanyahu to Hitler and Stalin, and provides safe haven for Hamas leaders in Turkey.
Last year, Turkey helped oust the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad — whom Israel was also happy to see go, as he had become an arm of the Iranian regime. Turkey then became interested in developing military bases on Syrian territory. Though the declared purpose of these bases was to fight the so-called “Islamic State” or ISIS, the Israeli official said, the real reason was to confront Israel.
Israel was weary of war and did not want to see an escalation with Turkey. But it had acted to thwart Turkish aims in Syria, the official said, and would do so again.
The fact that Turkey is a close U.S. ally made the situation even more complicated, the official said, stressing the need to prevent F-35 sales to Erdogan.
President Donald Trump is said to have a good relationship with Erdogan, suggesting a potential point of friction in the close U.S.-Israel alliance.
U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack suggested last week that Congress could approve F-35 sales. Turkey had been barred from receiving the F-35 in 2019 after it bought Russian S-400 surface-to-air missiles, but Barrack said that the issue was close to being resolved.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of Trump 2.0: The Most Dramatic ‘First 100 Days’ in Presidential History, available for Amazon Kindle. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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