Israel delivers first official response to US-Saudi F-35 deal from Prime Minister's Office
The Prime Minister's spokesperson responded that the US and Israel have a longstanding understanding that Israel must maintain the qualitative edge when it comes to its defense
Israel released its first official reaction to the United States's (US) F-35 jet deal with the Saudis on Thursday in a message from the Prime Minister's Office Spokesperson, Shosh Bedrosian.
This comes after the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia's visit to the White House earlier this week, where he stated that the kingdom wanted to be part of the Abraham Accords — as long as it came with a clear path to a two-state solution.
The spokesperson, reading a question posed by a journalist, responded that the US and Israel have a longstanding understanding that Israel must maintain the qualitative edge when it comes to its defense.
"Does the Prime Minister's position remain that he is against Palestinian statehood, even if this could lead to normalization with Saudi Arabia? What is the Israeli government's position on the U.S. sale of F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia? How does Israel assess the implications for its qualitative military edge and overall national security?" Bedrosian read the posed question, followed by Israel's response.
"The Prime Minister and the President of the United States and Israel have a longstanding understanding, which is that Israel maintains the qualitative edge when it comes to its defense. That was true yesterday, that has been true today, and the Prime Minister believes that will be true tomorrow and in the future, of course," the spokesperson said.
Earlier this week, US President Trump declared that the F-35 planes to be sold to Saudi Arabia “will be like those sold to Israel.” This sparked concern among the Israeli political and security leadership, as if the terms of the deal would be identical, the planes will not include the “kill switch,” which means that the United States will not have the ability to maintain control over the planes.
After the pushback from Israel, American officials and defense analysts told Reuters on Thursday that the F-35 fighter jets under consideration for sale to Saudi Arabia will be delivered in a downgraded configuration compared to those operated by Israel, in accordance with longstanding US policy to protect Israel’s qualitative military edge in the Middle East.