*DUBAI: *
US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he would have “no problem”selling advanced F-35 warplanes to the United Arab Emirates, despiteobjections from close ally Israel.
“I personally would have no problem with it,” he said on* Fox News*. “Iwould have no problem in selling them the F-35.”
Trump, who will oversee the signing of a deal normaliaing relations betweenIsrael and the UAE later Tuesday, said the sale would mean “tremendous jobsat home.”
The UAE is eyeing the stealth fighter jet as a component in its ambitiousplans to make the small, wealthy country into a regional military power.Israel — currently the only country in the region to possess the USwarplanes — has pushed back, insisting on retaining its overwhelmingtechnical advantage against its Arab neighbors.
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Analysts say that the UAE has used its demand for F-35s as a bargainingchip in agreeing to sign up to the Trump-brokered peace accords beingsigned at the White House that also include Bahrain.
Trump “understands Israel’s security probably more than any Americanpresident in decades,” the president’s senior advisor and son-in-law JaredKushner said last week.
“But the United Arab Emirates is a great military, you know, partner ofAmerica. We work together on a lot of things. They’re right on the borderwith Iran and have real threats. And I think that there’s a lot ofopportunity to be gained by working on this,” he said.
