US War Secretary cancels Netanyahu meeting over Türkiye's F-35 plans
Photo: F-35 fighter jets in the sky (Getty Images)
US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth canceled a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The talks fell through amid Washington’s plans to sell advanced F-35 fighter jets to Türkiye, according to Reuters.
The Pentagon chief had planned to hold talks this week, but the meeting did not take place. A source in Israeli circles told the agency about this on condition of anonymity.
Hegseth was also scheduled to meet with Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz. Iran was the focus of the discussions, but the itinerary has now been changed. The US Embassy in Israel has not officially commented on the situation.
Why Jerusalem opposes F-35s sale to Ankara
Israeli officials are categorically opposed to arming Türkiye with such state-of-the-art aircraft. Netanyahu has already expressed his position to Donald Trump. He believes that such a move would alter the balance of power in the region, given that Türkiye supports the Palestinians.
"It would destroy the power balance in the Middle East because Turkey has aggressive aspirations," Netanyahu said in an interview with CNN.
Israel fears Türkiye’s ambitions, as Ankara has long criticized the IDF’s actions in Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria. Türkiye also accuses Israel of attempting to undermine agreements with Iran.
Background
Ankara has long wanted to purchase these fifth-generation fighter jets from the United States, but Washington refused to sell them after Türkiye acquired the S-400 air defense system from Russia. Washington also imposed sanctions on Türkiye’s leading defense company.
However, at the recent NATO summit in Ankara, Donald Trump hinted that restrictions on both the fighter jets and the defense company would be lifted. This sparked a negative reaction in Jerusalem.
The media discovered that, in addition to Türkiye’s decision, at Trump’s request, not to intervene in the conflict in Iran on Tehran’s side, it also sold Russian air defense systems to the UAE or Qatar. This pleased Trump greatly, and he stated that it was time to lift restrictions on Türkiye because the US did not want to impose sanctions on friends.
