Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced any possible sale of U.S. F-35 fighter jets to Turkey mere hours after President Donald Trump floated the suggestion while attending the annual NATO summit.Netanyahu said the possibility of the deal wouldn’t make Turkey “a friendly state to the United States” in an interview with CNN anchor Dana Bash on Tuesday.“To the country, it’s a regime that’s infected with the Muslim Brotherhood, which hates the United States,” Netanyahu said.
He also claimed the deal “would destroy the power balance in the Middle East, because … Turkey, I think, has aggressive aspirations.”In a bilateral meeting at NATO with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Trump said reversing a congressional ban against Turkey purchasing F-35 jets was “a decision we are going to make.” Trump also repeatedly sang the praises of Erdogan in contrast to his disappointment with NATO members that did not aid the U.S. during the Iran war.But Netanyahu claimed Erdogan “harbors Hamas, the Hamas terrorists. He supports them. He finances them. He’s thrown his opponents in jail, all of them.”Netanyahu also denounced Erdogan’s threats against Greece, a NATO member, and against Israel, which is still dealing with tensions against the Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.“He threatens to destroy my country, the one and only Jewish state,” said the Israeli leader. Erdogan “says that we have no place among the nations, and you know what that means.”Earlier at NATO, Trump claimed that “Turkey has been, in many ways, much more loyal than other countries that we think would be loyal.”Trump and Netanyahu’s relationship has evolved since the U.S. and Israel launched the joint operation that began the Iran war on Feb. 28. The two leaders have faced tensions as Trump pushed Israel to stop attacking Hezbollah in Lebanon in the lead-up to signing a memorandum of understanding with Iran last month. Tehran has linked the battle against the U.S. and Israel’s battle against Hezbollah in efforts to end the Iran war.TRUMP SAYS HE IS CONSIDERING SELLING F-35 JETS TO TURKEY DURING NATO SUMMITNetanyahu, however, downplayed his disagreements with Trump over the war.“I can tell you that even allies can have their differences,” he said. “But I think America has no greater ally in the world than Israel, and Israel has no greater ally than the United States. And I say that with complete recognition of the fact that we sometimes see things a bit differently.”
