Netanyahu Urges Trump Against Selling F-35 Jets to Turkey

Benjamin Netanyahu has appeared on American TV to urge Donald Trump not to sell jet fighters to Türkiye, adding to a growing list of tensions between the leaders.

The US president had earlier said he would consider reversing a US ban on selling F-35 jets to Türkiye. "Turkey has been in many ways much more loyal than other countries that we think would be loyal," Mr Trump said.

He made the comments in Türkiye, where he is attending a NATO summit, during a joint press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

"Many people, including the people who are sitting here, think, 'Why wouldn't we do that?'" Mr Trump said. "It's certainly something we will consider."

Several hours later, the Israeli prime minister appeared on CNN to warn against the move.

"It would destroy the power balance in the Middle East because Turkey, I think, has aggressive aspirations," Mr Netanyahu said.

"I think everyone understands that, notwithstanding the personal friendship that President Trump has with Erdoğan, it doesn't make Turkey a friendly state to the United States."

Mr Netanyahu said he had also spoken directly to Mr Trump several times about the issue.

'Occasional disagreements'

It follows a series of disputes between the two men, including over their strategy for the war on Iran and Israel's attacks in Lebanon, which have threatened to derail peace talks with Iran.

Last month, after Israeli bombings in Beirut, Mr Trump reportedly yelled at Mr Netanyahu over the phone: "You're f***ing crazy … I'm saving your ass. Everybody hates you now."

Mr Netanyahu is subject to an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza, where a UN commission of inquiry has found Israel committed genocide.

The US president's efforts to negotiate a peace deal with Iran have also been criticised by some members of Mr Netanyahu's government. US Vice-President JD Vance last month responded to the criticisms by saying: "If I were in the cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world."

Mr Netanyahu said he and Mr Trump had "occasional disagreements", but were both doing what was right for their respective countries. "Most of the time, these things are identical," he said.

"On the big things, we see eye to eye," he told CNN. "Sometimes we see things a little bit differently. You're a big country, you're far away, we're a small country, beleaguered, and close to these regimes that want to destroy us."

Trump promises to lift sanctions on Türkiye

Mr Trump banned the sale of F-35 jets to Türkiye in 2019, during his first term, after Türkiye bought an air defence system from Russia.

According to Turkish state-funded outlet TRT World, Mr Erdoğan said the US had given Türkiye a commitment relating to five jets.

"God willing, I believe a favourable decision on the F-35 issue will emerge from this leaders' summit," Mr Erdoğan told reporters in Turkish.

Mr Trump also said the US would remove sanctions that were placed on Türkiye after its purchase of the Russian defence system.

"We're going to be taking the sanctions off," Mr Trump. "We don't want to sanction friends."

NATO leaders have meanwhile unveiled tens of billions of dollars worth of arms deals in a sign they are heeding calls from the US to spend more to defend Europe.

But Mr Trump has repeated his complaints about NATO, saying he was "very disappointed" with allies including Britain, France, Germany and Italy for not doing more to support the war on Iran.