Kushner backs F-35 sale to UAE, Pompeo weighs in

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo emphasised Monday that the United Sates was committed to maintaining Israel’s military superiority in the region while appearing to hint at an impending deal in which the US would provide the United ArabEmirates (UAE) with advanced F-35 fighter jets.

“The United States has a legal requirement with respect to qualitative military edge, and we will continue to honour that,” Pompeo told reporters in Jerusalem.

“We have a 20-plus-year security relationship with the United Arab Emirates as well, where we have provided them with technical assistance and military assistance and we will now continue to review that process,” he said.

“We will continue to make sure we are delivering them with the equipment that they need to secure and defend their own people from this same threat,” Pompeo said, referring to Iran.

Pompeo’s statements came one day after top White House adviser Jared Kushner suggested that the recent peace agreement between Israel and the UAE “should increase the probability” of an F-35 jet sale to the Arab Gulf country.

In an interview with CNN, Kushner said this had become a political issue in Israel over the last week or so, and acknowledged that the UAE has been trying to get the F-35 for a long time.

“The group that wants them not to get it the most is obviously Iran because they’re right across the Strait of Hormuz from there,” he said.

“And the reality is that this new peace agreement should increase the probability of them getting it, but it’s something we’re reviewing.”

“Obviously we’ll look at the QME and we’ll do everything in accordance with the right standards, but it’s something that the State Department and the US military is looking at,” Kushner added.

On August 19, an industry insider who was part of the dialogue with government officials said the US is eyeing the sale of stealthy F-35 fighter jets to the UAE in a side agreement to the Gulf country’s overtures to Israel.

A sale, which could reduce Israel’s military advantage in the Middle East, would come after Israel and the UAE said they would normalise diplomatic ties and forge a broad new relationship under an accord that US President Donald Trump helped broker.

At a news conference in mid-August, Trump said the UAE was interested in buying F-35 fighter jets made by Lockheed Martin Corp, which Israel has used in combat.

“They’d like to buy F-35’s, we’ll see what happens, it’s under review.”

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, citing a need to maintain Israeli military superiority in the region, responded to the news, saying his country would oppose any US F-35 sales to the UAE.

Any F-35 sale could take years to negotiate and deliver, giving a new US presidential administration ample time to halt the deal.

Poland, the most recent F-35 customer, purchased 32 of the jets, but will not receive its first delivery until 2024. Any sale would also need congressional approval.

The industry source said the prospective jet sale was arranged with the help of Trump senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner.

The Pentagon and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The potential F-35 deal was first reported by Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.

The United States guarantees that Israel receives more advanced American weapons than Arab states, giving it what is labelled a “Qualitative Military Edge” over its neighbours.

Under the accord with the UAE, Israel agreed to suspend its planned annexation of areas of the occupied West Bank.

The agreement also firms up opposition to regional power Iran, which the UAE, Israel and the United States view as the main threat in the Middle East.