Khaberni - An Israeli official considered "the Saudis need to change their approach during the visit. It is important that the meeting between Trump and bin Salman leads to a clear roadmap for normalization."
Israel informed its counterpart the United States that it does not oppose the sale of F-35 fighters to Saudi Arabia, but at the same time requested that the deal be made in return for Riyadh's agreement to normalize relations with it; this was before a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Washington next week.
Two Israeli officials said that Tel Aviv "does not oppose the United States selling F-35 fighters to Saudi Arabia, but this should happen as part of a full normalization of relations with Israel."
According to an Israeli official, Tel Aviv has informed the US administration of this, adding that "selling F-35 fighters without a political quid pro quo would be a mistake and cause harm."
Another Israeli official mentioned, "Unlike our strong opposition to selling F-35 fighters to Turkey, we are less concerned about the presence of this weapon system in Saudi Arabia if it is part of regional security cooperation under the 'Abraham Accords', as is the case with the UAE."
According to Israel's Channel 12, Tel Aviv is the only country in the region that currently owns F-35 fighters, and supplying these fighters to Saudi Arabia would change the regional balance of power and affect Israel’s qualitative military edge (QME).
It noted that maintaining Israel's qualitative military edge is part of understandings that have been in place for many years between Israel and successive US administrations, whether Republican or Democratic. In 2008, Congress passed a law requiring the United States to preserve the qualitative military edge of the Israeli army.
As part of the "Abraham Accords" signed in 2020, Israel agreed to provide the UAE with the same fighters, in return for a set of American security guarantees, but the deal was not completed due to demands by the administration of former US President Joe Biden to impose restrictions on the use of these fighters.
According to Channel 12, it is likely that Israel will request similar security guarantees from the United States if the deal to supply Saudi Arabia with the fighters advances, and quoted an Israeli official saying that "Israel's concern is that Saudi Arabia is much closer to it than the UAE"; noting that "the distance between Saudi Arabia and Israel is just a few minutes by air."
It is also expected that Israel will demand that none of the F-35 fighters that might be delivered to Saudi Arabia be stationed at Saudi air force bases located in the western part of the country.
Two Israeli officials expressed hope that Trump would put pressure on bin Salman to soften his demands, and that this visit would open the door to the start of direct negotiations between the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Israel regarding a potential agreement in the coming months.
An Israeli official considered that "the Saudis need to change their approach during the visit. It is important that the meeting between Trump and bin Salman leads to a clear roadmap for normalization."
Meanwhile, the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation ("Kan 11") reported that Tel Aviv opposes the sale of F-35 fighters to Saudi Arabia, and the resigned Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer conveyed this to officials in the Trump administration during his visit to Washington last week.
Israel believes that this deal is not relevant at the current time, and what concerns it is that the sale of the fighters might lead to information leaks to Russia and China, allies of Saudi Arabia, which could lead to the loss of its relative superiority in the skies of the Middle East; according to "Kan 11".
