President Donald Trump said Wednesday the U.S. Is considering selling advanced American F-35 warplanes to the United Arab Emirates over the objections of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Trump told reporters at a White House news conference that the Emiratis had expressed interest in buying “quite a few” of the stealth fighter jets. He said such a sale was “under review” given the new dynamic between Israel and the UAE since the two nations agreed to normalize relations last week. Perhaps just as important, Trump said, is that the UAE can afford to buy the planes.
Netanyahu said Tuesday he would oppose the sale despite the historic UAE deal after an Israeli newspaper reported that the normalization accord that Trump brokered included language to supply the Arab Gulf nation with advanced U.S. Weapons systems.