Gantz doubles down on claim Netanyahu knew of F- 35 sale
PM’s Office and Defense Ministry say Gantz’s DC trip secured Israel’s QME • Israel won’t oppose jet sale to UAE
Defense Minister Benny Gantz doubled down on his accusation that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu knew about the sale of the F- 35 to the United Arab Emirates during negotiations but kept it hidden from the defense establishment.
“As Defense Minister, I state that the defense establishment did not know and was not privy to the negotiations for the supply of advanced weapons systems to the United Arab Emirates by the Prime Minister,” Gantz said.
He stated that following the agreement signed with the UAE, Gantz instructed the defense establishment to carry out security discussions with Washington to ensure Israel’s qualitative military edge ( QME) “with my personal involvement with the US administration.”
Though he stated that he was “proud” of the “prompt and thorough action” that led to the agreement Gantz signed with his American counterpart US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, he stressed that “had the defense establishment had the information – this would have enabled proper and responsible management of the process.
“The Defense Minister considers achieving peace and regional stability a strategic value and therefore led an independent action” with the Trump administration to ensure both the normalization deal with the UAE and Israel’s security, the statement by Gantz’s office said on Friday.
In a press conference on Saturday evening, Netanyahu denied claims released by Gantz’s office that he kept the sale of the stealth fighter jet to Abu Dhabi hidden from the