Hegseth to meet Netanyahu over possible sale of F-35s to Turkiye, source tells Reuters

JERUSALEM: US ‌Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth will discuss the possible sale of F-35 fighter jets to Turkiye on Wednesday ​with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters, a sale likely to anger Israeli officials.
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, said Hegseth was also scheduled to meet Israeli Defense Minister ‌Israel Katz and ‌that Iran would feature in ​their ‌discussions.
In ⁠an ​interview with ⁠CNN on Tuesday, Netanyahu said he opposed the sale of F-35s to Turkiye, and that he had made his opposition clear to Trump.
“It would destroy the power balance in the Middle East because Turkiye has aggressive aspirations,” Netanyahu told ⁠CNN. Turkiye, a NATO member, has ‌long criticized Israeli operations ‌in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria, and ​it has repeatedly ‌accused Israel of trying to undermine the US-Iran ‌ceasefire deal mediated by Pakistan. President Donald Trump, who is attending a NATO summit in Turkiye, announced on Tuesday he would lift US sanctions imposed on Ankara over ‌its 2019 purchase of Russian air defense missiles, and he signalled a willingness ⁠to ⁠sell the NATO ally F-35 fighter jets, a move likely to face strong resistance in Congress as well as in Israel.
Bilateral relations had deteriorated sharply over Turkiye’s acquisition of the Russian S-400 system, which prompted the US to impose sanctions on a major Turkish defense company and remove Ankara from the F-35 stealth fighter jet program.
Ties have improved markedly since Trump’s ​return to the White ​House in January 2025 but the jet sales remain blocked under US law.