Israel will oppose Qatar’s request to buy F-35 fighter jets from the US, even at the price of preventing the normalization of ties with the Gulf Arab country, Intelligence Minister Eli Cohen said on Sunday.
Maintaining Israel’s qualitative military edge in the region takes precedence over other considerations, Cohen said in an Army Radio interview. Qatar has ruled out normalizing ties with Israel before its conflict with the Palestinians is resolved.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE), which signed a US-brokered normalisation pact with Israel in September, has similarly asked to buy America’s most sophisticated warplane. The Trump administration is expected to submit