Israel is going all out to stop Turkey from getting F-35s

['Fatih Kocaibiş', 'Fatih Kocaibis Is A Turkey-Based Journalist', 'Political Analyst Covering U.S. Foreign Policy', 'Transatlantic Relations', 'European Security', 'Their Implications For Turkish Foreign Policy.'] Responsible Statecraft 2026-08-10 05:05:01

For the first time in years, Washington is discussing Turkey's return to the F-35 program as a serious possibility. At the NATO summit in Ankara last month, President Donald Trump said he would lift the CAATSA sanctions that the U.S. imposed on Turkey after Ankara purchased Russian S-400 missile defense systems in 2019. Trump added that he was “certainly” considering restoring Turkey’s access to the F-35 program, which was also suspended at the time.. Israel argues that Turkish F-35s would, in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's words, " destroy the power balance " in the region. Yet these rules have never been formally applied to Turkey, which is, after all, a U.S. treaty ally.