US President Donald Trump, in conjunction with the start of his meeting with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the NATO summit in Ankara, announced his country's intention to lift the sanctions imposed on Turkey and make a decisive decision on the possibility of selling F-35 stealth fighter jets to Turkey.
Trump explained in remarks to reporters that the US administration will lift sanctions imposed in 2020 under the CAATSA Act to confront America's adversaries, which were implemented after Ankara acquired the Russian S-400 air defense system.
Media outlets quoted informed sources as speculating that Trump would officially announce his support for this strategic deal, although there are still some legal and legislative hurdles within the US Congress that have not yet been fully resolved.
Israeli veto
The potential move has sparked widespread anger in Tel Aviv, where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has expressed strong opposition to the White House's directions.
In an exclusive interview with CNN, Netanyahu warned that giving Turkey these advanced fighter jets does not make it a friendly country of the United States, describing the regime in Ankara as infested with the ideology of the Brotherhood, which is hateful to Washington and threatens to destroy Israel.
The Israeli prime minister confirmed that he directly urged Trump to back down from this deal, which he considered an imminent danger that threatens to destroy the military balance of power in the Middle East and open the door to a new wave of regional aggression.
Calm down visit
Against the backdrop of this escalating diplomatic rift, CNN and the American news website "Axios" revealed an urgent move by the Pentagon, as US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegsey intends to make an official visit to Israel.
According to news reports, this visit, which is Hegseth's first as defense minister, is aimed in large part at calming deep Israeli concerns about Turkey's upcoming F-35 deal, as well as discussing developments related to the Iranian file.
In the coming hours, the US secretary of state is expected to meet with Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz to discuss a formula that will ensure that Tel Aviv's qualitative military superiority is maintained.
Ankara's ambitions
Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in official statements made during his meeting with his American counterpart at the Presidential Complex, expressed full confidence in the issuance of a positive decision from the NATO summit to end the stealth aircraft crisis.
Erdogan pointed out that the F-35 file was previously discussed by Ankara with Washington and received promises to receive five planes, stressing that Trump always keeps his promises.
Turkey's ambition was not limited to American fighter jets, but Erdogan added that he would re-discuss the file of Turkey's national Qaan fighter engines with Trump, expecting to repeat what he described as the American good news to support the Turkish strategic project, in the presence of a high-level delegation that included the ministers of foreign affairs, defense, finance, and the head of the Turkish intelligence service, Ibrahim Kalin.
Mediation and tension
These military developments come at a time when Turkish-Israeli relations are at their peak of tension over the war in Gaza and the power struggle in Syria.
The reports recalled statements by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to CNN Turk last week, in which he described Israel as a burden that humanity no longer bears, prompting immediate condemnation from Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar, who considered it an outright incitement to genocide.
In exchange for this diplomatic exchange, Erdogan stressed that his country is seeking at this critical stage to create a suitable ground for relations between Iran and the United States to advance peace, in parallel with the continuation of Turkish mediation efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war.
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