Netanyahu Lobbying US Against F-35 Sale To Turkey

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been lobbying US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to block the sale of F-35 warplanes to Turkey, citing concerns over Ankara’s growing influence in Syria, three sources, including two senior western officials, told Middle East Eye.

Netanyahu raised the F-35 issue during multiple calls with Rubio in March and April, the two western officials said. A third source familiar with the matter confirmed that Netanyahu had pressed Rubio on the arms sale.

Netanyahu has privately said he will push Trump against the F-35 sale but has yet to discuss it with him. The Israeli leader will meet Trump at the White House on Monday, his second visit this year. Netanyahu has a slew of files to address with Trump, from surprise tariffs levied against it and potential nuclear talks with Iran to the disarmament of Hezbollah and Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza.

However, Israel and Turkey’s rivalry is heating up in Syria. Last week, Israel bombed three military bases in the country - including Syria’s Tiyas air base, also known as T4. The strikes came as Israel saw a limited window of opportunity to attack the bases before Turkey moved its military assets in.

MEE revealed previously that Turkey is deploying a Hisar-type air defense system to the T4 base. Turkey’s control of the bases is part of a pending defence pact that Ankara and Damascus have been negotiating since December. The agreement would see Turkey provide air cover and military protection for Syria’s new government, which currently lacks a functioning military.

Netanyahu and his advisors see Rubio as a strong ally in trying to stop Turkey from acquiring F-35s, the western officials told MEE.

Rubio and Turkey

Rubio is one of the top Turkey hawks in Trump’s cabinet. He was one of the few American officials to express concern over the arrest on March 19 of Istanbul's mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu. The imprisonment of Imamoglu, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s top rival, sparked mass protests in Turkey.

Amid fallout over the arrest, Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, said Trump held a “really transformational” phone call with Erdogan, saying there was “just a lot of good positive news coming out of Turkey right now”.

The sources told MEE that Netanyahu has raised the F-35 issue with Rubio several times, including on a call that took place before Rubio hosted his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, in Washington DC on March 25. A readout of that meeting provided by the State Department said the two discussed “close cooperation to support a stable, unified, peaceful Syria”.

Rubio and Fidan also had a warm embrace on the sidelines of a Nato summit in Brussels in April. When he was a Republican Senator, Rubio took a particularly strong interest in the Eastern Mediterranean. He passed legislation to advance security and energy cooperation between Greece, Cyprus and Israel.

Rubio co-authored the 2019 Eastern Mediterranean Security and Energy Partnership Act, which authorized foreign military financing for Greece and lifted a prohibition on arms sales to the Republic of Cyprus.

Greece is Turkey’s historic foe in the region. Turkey invaded northern Cyprus in 1974 after a failed coup attempt to unite it with Greece. Turkey maintains more than 35,000 troops in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, a country recognised by no UN member state except for Turkey. Cyprus, Greece and Israel have been alarmed by Turkey’s growing influence in the region after Islamist rebels overthrew Bashar al-Assad’s government last year in Syria.

With Ankara’s allies ensconced in Damascus, Greece and Cyprus are concerned that Turkey could replicate a maritime deal that it struck with Libya’s Tripoli-based government. Greece and Israel have been deepening their military ties for a decade with US backing, partly in response to that maritime deal with Libya.

That partnership has accelerated in response to Turkey’s growing sway in Syria. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visited Israel on 30 March, and Greece is in talks with Israel to purchase its Barak medium-range air defence systems.

The Israeli foreign ministry declined to comment on Netanyahu’s lobbying. The State Department did not respond to MEE’s request for comment by the time of publication.

A source familiar with Ankara’s thinking said that while aware of Netanyahu’s lobbying, they do not believe he can do much. A senior Turkish official told MEE that the Trump administration hasn’t expressed any change on the F-35 file. “Netanyahu could only demand Trump to sell more F-35s to Israel, maybe doubling the amount Turkey might buy,” the source familiar with the matter said. “You cannot tell Trump not to make that sale.”

Trump and the 'unfriendly takeover' 

While Trump often touts his good relationship with Erdogan, he has often been critical of Turkey. Trump said in December that Erdogan orchestrated an “unfriendly takeover” of Syria after Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) toppled Assad’s government. He expressed concern about Turkish expansionism, saying, "They've wanted it [Syria] for thousands of years, and he got it”.

Steve Bannon, a former Trump advisor whose podcast War Room has become required listening to those seeking a peek behind Trump’s world view, said recently that Erdogan was “one of the most dangerous leaders” in the world and wants to "re-establish the Ottoman Empire”. Outside influencers have growing sway in Trump’s White House, as was underscored by right-wing Laura Loomer’s takedown of several national security officials.

The tussle between Turkey and the US over F-35s goes back to 2019 when Ankara purchased Russia’s S-400 missile system and was ejected from the co-production of the warplane. The following year, the Trump administration slapped sanctions on Turkey.

MEE revealed that Ankara is considering the temporary deployment of S-400 air defence systems to T4 or Palmyra in Syria to secure the airspace during the reconstruction of the bases. However, no final decision has been made and Russia would need to give its approval.

Under US law, Turkey must relinquish possession of the S-400 system to be readmitted into the F-35 programme. But deploying the S-400 to Syria would likely alarm Israel. Israel has long enjoyed a veto on US arms sales to other Middle Eastern states to ensure it maintains a qualitative military edge in the region.