PC Staff
The Palestine Chronicle / November 16, 2025
Israel has reportedly signalled it will only support a US sale of F-35 jets to Saudi Arabia if the deal forces Riyadh to normalize relations with Tel Aviv, according to Axios.
Israel has privately informed the Trump administration that it does not oppose a US sale of advanced F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, but only if the deal is conditioned on full diplomatic normalization with Israel, the US-based outlet Axios reported on Sunday, citing two senior Israeli officials.
According to the report, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is expected to meet US President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday; the F-35 deal, a proposed US-Saudi defense pact, and Washington’s push for Saudi-Israeli normalization are reportedly expected to dominate the agenda.
Axios also claimed that Trump told the crown prince during a phone call last month that with what he described as the Gaza war “ending,” Washington expects Saudi Arabia to move toward diplomatic normalization with Israel.
On Friday, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said he planned to discuss the matter with the Saudi leader. “I hope that Saudi Arabia will be going into the Abraham Accords fairly shortly,” he said, according to Axios.
Behind the scenes, the Israeli officials reportedly told Axios that Israel’s approval of such an advanced weapons transfer depends entirely on securing concessions from Riyadh.
One official is quoted as saying: “We told the Trump administration that the supply of F-35s to Saudi Arabia needs to be subject to Saudi normalization with Israel.”
The official added that allowing the jets to be delivered without extracting political commitments from Saudi Arabia would be “a mistake and counterproductive.”
Another Israeli official reportedly echoed the position, attempting to frame the issue as part of a broader regional military alignment.
“Unlike the supply of F-35s to Turkey that we strongly oppose, we are less concerned about such a weapons system in Saudi Arabia if it’s part of a regional security cooperation as part of the Abraham Accords, like we have with the United Arab Emirates,” the official reportedly said.
Israel currently remains the only state in the region operating the F-35, a platform designed to ensure overwhelming technological superiority. A Saudi acquisition would shift the regional balance and raise questions about Washington’s longstanding claim that it must maintain Israel’s so-called “qualitative military edge.”
Israel has previously approved the transfer of F-35 jets to the United Arab Emirates under the 2020 Abraham Accords, though that sale remains stalled due to the US reluctance under the Biden administration to approve unrestricted capabilities.
If a Saudi sale moves forward, Israeli officials are expected to demand similar restrictions, including conditions on deployment locations. One official reportedly expressed concern about the geographic proximity, saying: “It takes minutes for an F-35 to fly from Saudi Arabia to Israel.”
