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JUST IN:Israel told the Trump administration it would only approve the U.S. selling F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia if the deal is tied to full normalization with Israel. An Israeli official said: “We told the Trump administration that supplying Saudi Arabia with F-35s must be conditional on normalization with Israel, and that selling the planes without a political concession would be a mistake and would cause harm.”
Israel wants security guarantees because of Saudi Arabia’s proximity. One official said: “The distance between Saudi Arabia and Israel is a matter of minutes in flight.” Israel is also expected to demand that Saudi Arabia not station F-35s at air bases in the west of the kingdom.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is expected to meet President Trump at the White House on Tuesday, where the F-35 deal, the U.S.–Saudi security pact, and possible normalization will be central topics.
Trump said on Air Force One that he would discuss with the crown prince the possibility “that Saudi Arabia normalizes its relations with Israel very soon.”
One of Saudi Arabia’s conditions for normalization is establishing a Palestinian state.
Source: CH12 - @tamerqdh
Mike
