Israel Fears Losing Its Military Edge as Trump Eyes F-35 Sale to Turkey

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is sounding the alarm over a potential US decision to sell F-35 fighter jets to Turkey. “Delivering the F-35s to Turkey would destroy the balance of power in the Middle East,” Netanyahu warned, following reports that former President Donald Trump is considering the sale. The “balance of power” Netanyahu refers to is actually an imbalance: Israel’s military superiority over its neighbors. The United States guarantees this through a policy known as “Qualitative Military Edge,” which is enshrined in US law. Before a recent NATO summit in Turkey, Netanyahu tried to convince Trump not to sell the advanced jets to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He also gave media interviews warning of Turkey’s “radical regime.” His efforts failed. Trump first promised to lift sanctions on Turkey, then signaled he was open to selling the aircraft. Israel is currently the only country in the Middle East that operates the F-35. It knows exactly what the jet can do. According to Yonah Jeremy Bob, a military analyst for the *Jerusalem Post*, the F-35 is nearly invisible to enemy radar. “It is a widely known fact that no country has managed to detect the F-35,” he writes. If Ankara decided to attack Israel, it could theoretically do so without warning. Bob also warns of a “catastrophic scenario” where Turkey shares F-35 tracking data with Syria or Iran. This would severely limit Israel’s ability to launch preemptive strikes against ballistic missiles or nuclear weapons. To break Israel’s advantage, Turkey does not even need to attack—it only needs the capability to threaten it. The US kicked Turkey out of the F-35 program in 2019 after Ankara bought Russia’s S-400 missile defense system. US law requires Turkey to get rid of the S-400 before it can buy the F-35. For over a year, Turkey and the US have discussed solutions, such as selling the Russian system to another country. Russia has confirmed it is negotiating to allow that sale. Despite US law, Trump has said he is not worried about Turkey keeping the S-400. “Turkey has been, in many ways, much more loyal than other countries we thought would be,” Trump said at the NATO summit, praising Erdogan for staying out of the US and Israel’s war against Iran. However, the US Congress must still approve any F-35 sale to Turkey. The timing of this US-Turkey rapprochement is sensitive. Tensions between Ankara and Tel Aviv have risen sharply. In June, Erdogan told his parliament, “Israel must be stopped. It is the duty of humanity.” His foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, called Israel “a burden that humanity can no longer bear.” Israel responded by calling Erdogan’s comments “a clear call for genocide.” Netanyahu has since intensified his rhetoric, calling Turkey “a regime infected by the Muslim Brotherhood” that “threatens to destroy the only Jewish country in the world.” But some Israeli media see a political motive. The newspaper *Haaretz* published an editorial accusing Netanyahu of building a new enemy ahead of elections on October 27. “Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Iranians have already played their role,” the editorial stated. “Therefore, Netanyahu decided to renew the list of enemies and focus on Ankara.”