US arming UAE despite Israel alarm
Trump aides deny bid to sell F-35 jets, drones a reward
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has accelerated a push to sell the F-35 stealth fighter and advanced armed drones to the United Arab Emirates, at a time when the Gulf nation is working with the Trump administration on a historic plan to formalize diplomatic ties with Israel, according to American officials familiar with the discussions.
Administration officials in recent weeks gave a classified briefing about the F-35 to the Emirati military — despite some concerns among National Security Council staff about the wisdom of giving details on one of the Pentagon’s most advanced weapons to a foreign government before a decision about a potential arms sale has been finalized.
American officials deny that the new push to sell the advanced weapons is a direct reward for the Emirati role in a diplomatic breakthrough, announced by President Donald Trump last week, where the Emirates would become just the third Arab nation to recognize Israel.
In exchange, Israel will suspend annexation of occupied West Bank territory.
But officials do not dispute that the new momentum on the arms sale — after years of stalled requests by the Emirates to buy the fighter jet — is linked to the broader diplomatic initiative.
Such a move could dramatically alter the military balance in the Middle East and is likely to face strong objections from some parts of the government in Israel, which has the jet and has been wary of the United States selling the aircraft to other nations in the region. Israel’s military has said such sales could weaken the nation’s strong advantage in the Middle East.
Without the support of the Israeli government, it is unlikely Congress would support the sale.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel strenuously denies that he gave even tacit consent for the sale of F-35s or any other advanced weapons to the Emirates as part of recent diplomatic negotiations with the White House. He insists he has consistently and repeatedly pressed Israel’s opposition to any such deal with American officials.
A White House spokesman declined to comment. Yousef al-Otaiba, the Emirates’ ambassador to the United States, declined to comment, as did a spokesman for the Israeli Embassy in Washington. Anwar Gargash, the Emirati minister of state for foreign affairs, has made no mention of any arms deal in his many comments on the diplomatic agreement with Israel.
Even if the Trump White House were to announce its intent, selling the F-35s would take six to eight years and could be undone by a future administration. Many of the top foreign policy advisers to Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee, were officials in the Obama administration and are skeptical of weapons sales to the Gulf Arab nations because of the many civilians killed by the Saudi-led coalition in the Yemen war.
The Emirati arms deal has been pushed by Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, who has been central to the diplomatic negotiations between Israel and the Emirates. Kushner’s efforts over three years to forge a peace agreement between the Israeli government and Palestinians have gone nowhere, and Palestinians have been angered by the Trump administration’s pro-Israel policies. Kushner has hoped to get the Gulf Arab leaders, including the Emirati crown prince, Mohammed bin Zayed, to push the Palestinians to support his proposals.
The Emiratis have pushed the Americans to sell them F-35s for at least six years, but Israeli officials have objected. The warplane is designed to have a low radar signature, and can strike ground targets and engage in air-to-air combat to maintain control of the skies.
“The F-35 has been the single-biggest defense system objective the Emiratis have had for years,” said Barbara Leaf, a former U.S. ambassador to the Emirates.
But, she said, with Israel and the Emirates agreeing to full diplomatic relations, the Emiratis expect Israel to relinquish some of its traditional technological edge.
“If you’re making the big move — normalization of relations — you’re in a different position as an Arab state,” Leaf said.
The United Arab Emirates is among the few traditional allies of the United States that have enjoyed good relations with the Trump administration, and it has found common cause with the White House in taking a hawkish position toward Iran. In an interview Wednesday with The Jerusalem Post, David Friedman, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, said improving the Emirates’ arsenal would be beneficial for the nations allied against Iran.
“Ultimately, under the right circumstances, both the U.S. and Israel would benefit greatly from having a strong ally situated across the Strait of Hormuz from Iran,” he said.
Friedman insisted that any decision on weapons sales would be made keeping in mind that the United States is committed to Israel having military supremacy in the region.
Since the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, American policy has been to ensure that Israel maintains what is called a “qualitative military edge” over its Arab neighbors. The monthslong interagency process for ensuring proposed weapons sales meet that requirement is highly classified and involves review by a handful of U.S. officials. The congressional definition says the United States must ensure that Israel can defeat “any credible conventional military threat” while sustaining “minimal damage and casualties.”
Andrew Miller, a former State Department and National Security Council official now at the Project on Middle East Democracy in Washington, said that “the mere fact that UAE is making peace with Israel does not exempt the U.S.” from requirements to maintain Israel’s military superiority.
Trump, Kushner and other White House aides have strongly advocated arms sales to Gulf Arab nations, which has led to one of the biggest rifts between the administration and Congress.
Since 2017, lawmakers have put holds on proposed arms packages to Saudi Arabia and the Emirates, citing the thousands of civilians killed by a Saudi-led coalition in the Yemen war. Many of the civilians died from precision-guided bombs made by Raytheon.
In 2019, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a declaration of an “emergency” over Iranian activities in the region to bypass Congress in pushing through $8.1 billion of weapons to the two nations.