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The President of the United States, Donald Trump is looking to sell fighter jets to the United Arab Emirates. He said he would have no problem selling F-35 fighter jets to the UAE, in spite of objections from Israel. He was speaking just hours before the officials of the UAE are due to sign a historic US-brokered accord with Israel. President Trump also said that he would be happy to pursue divisive arms sales. The UAE’s minister of state for foreign affairs, Anwar Gargash had said earlier that the UAE needed to modernize its military. Point to be noted that the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly said his government would oppose the sale. Last month, he said that the United States had clarified to Israel that it will always safeguard the qualitative edge of Israel.

President Trump also contradicted and informed Fox News that selling our stuff is good for our country. He referenced the UAE’s de facto ruler and crown prince Mohammed Bin Zayed. Trump said, “I know the leader very well, Mohammed. I would have no problem in selling them the F35, I would have absolutely no problem. I view it as an asset, not a liability”. The Fox News hosts pointed out the reservations of Israel, President said, “It is tremendous, jobs at home, you’re talking about a large number of planes”. It is noteworthy that the UAE and Gulf neighbor Bahrain is set to sign historic normalization agreements with Israel at a White House ceremony on Tuesday. The wording and details of agreements have not been made public.

The US administration has refrained from Middle East arms sales that could blunt the qualitative military edge of Israel. It has applied to the F-35 fighter-jets which have been denied to Arab states, like Egypt, but Israel has bought and deployed it. Gargash said the purchase of F-35 jets in a potential sale which could also include Reaper drones and EA-18G Growler electronic warfare planes. He said, “The UAE looks like any country that takes its military seriously in order to modernize its military, always. So our request for the F35 and other systems pre-dates this agreement. The UAE’s existing F-16 jets are now almost 2-decades old and it is time to renew them”.