JERUSALEM: Israel said Friday it will not oppose the U.S. sale of certain weapon systems to the United Arab Emirates following an agreement with Washington to upgrade its own capabilities in order to preserve its military edge in the Middle East.
The statement released by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Benny Gantz did not specify which weapons systems, but appeared to refer to the possible sale of F-35 stealth fighter jets, which the UAE hopes to obtain following its agreement to normalize ties with Israel.
Gantz’s office declined to elaborate on the statement, which was released late Friday in Israel, when the country is largely shut down for the Jewish Sabbath. There was no immediate comment from the Pentagon.
The statement said Gantz reached “understandings” with the Pentagon during a visit to Washington this week that will allow the procurement of advanced weapon systems that will significantly upgrade Israels military capabilities, maintain its security and its military advantage in the region as well as its qualitative military edge in the coming decades.
It said Gantz was notified by the US administration of its plans to notify Congress of its intention to provide certain weapon systems to the UAE.
The Prime Minister and the Defense Minister both agree that since the US is upgrading Israels military capability and is maintaining Israels qualitative military edge, Israel will not oppose the sale of these systems to the UAE, it said.
The UAE agreed to normalize relations with Israel earlier this year, bringing longstanding covert ties into the open in a deal hailed by the U.S. and Israel as an historic breakthrough in Middle East diplomacy. The UAE and Bahrain, which signed a similar normalization agreement, became the third and fourth Arab nations to establish formal diplomatic ties with Israel.
Sudan agreed to normalize ties with Israel earlier on Friday. Egypt and Jordan made peace with Israel decades ago.
Israelis welcomed the agreement with the UAE, which paved the way for the other normalization accords, but word that the U.S. intended to sell F-35s to the Emirates proved controversial.
Netanyahu repeatedly denied there was any link between arms deals and opening ties to the Emirates. That was met with skepticism in Israel, particularly amid accusations that he bypassed Israels defense establishment in agreeing to a past German sale of advanced submarines to Egypt.
Critics have accused Netanyahu of lying over a key element that is believed to have clinched the deal for the UAE. Gantz, a political rival who formed a fractious coalition government with Netanyahu last spring, said he was kept in the dark about the UAE deal until the last minute.
Netanyahu said in a statement late Friday that the discussion of arms sales only began after the normalization accords were concluded and that he did not object because the U.S. agreed to upgrade Israel’s own capabilities.
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