Israeli F35 jets to be financed through US military aid
Israel is about to buy its third fleet of F 35 stealth fighter jets in a deal worth $3 billion, which is set to be finalized in the coming months,.
Israel's Ministry of Military Affairs approved the purchase on Sunday.The additional 25 aircraft, manufactured by Lockheed Martin, will increase the number of F 35 jets in Israel's Air Force to 75.
The Ministry announced that this new agreement will ensure the continuation of cooperation between American companies and Israeli military industries in the production of aircraft parts.
In May 2018, Israel said it was the first country to use the F 35 in combat.
The purchase of the fighter jets will be financed through US military aid.
The US provides Israel with $3.8 billion in military aid every year, allowing Israel to use US government approved financing to obtain major American military hardware.
The United States is one of the main suppliers of arms and military equipment to Israel, also a staunch supporter of the occupying regime, and its decades long aggression against Palestinians.
Israel is the largest cumulative recipient of US foreign aid post world war two.
In 2016 the sitting US President, Barack Obama, signed an agreement with Israel providing $38 billion in US military support over 10 years, including funding for the Iron Dome missile defense system.
In 2022, the United States provided $1 billion in supplemental funding to replenish Israel's stockpile of missile interceptors for the Iron Dome.
The United States and Israel also participate in a variety of security related exchanges, including joint military exercises, research and weapons development.
While Israel is the closest US ally, ties between the two nations have come under some strain.
Netanyahu has yet to receive an official invitation to visit the White House from US President Joe Biden, who made a rare public foray into Israel's domestic politics in March when he called for a compromise to the spat over Netanyahu's continuous plans to overhaul Israel's judiciary.
Lawmakers in the US have spoken out against Washington's military aid to Tel Aviv with Senator Bernie Sanders and Congressman Jamaal Bowman, drafting a letter earlier this year to the Biden administration calling for a probe into whether Israel is using American weapons to commit human rights violations against Palestinians.
Analysts concur that the unwavering US support for Israel has enabled and emboldened the right wing Israeli cabinet's escalating violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
As Israeli forces targeted the densely populated Jenin refugee camp with both air and ground assaults involving hundreds of troops on Monday, the White House, again, underscored what it called Israel's right to defend itself.
Experts say that response reflects US President Joe Biden's unwillingness to rein in his country's top ally in the West Asia region, Israel, despite a pledge to center human rights in US foreign policy.
Israel launched the attack on Jenin, one of many recent assaults on the refugee camp, on Monday, allegedly targeting Palestinian resistance groups.
Palestinian resistance factions have pledged to retaliate against Israel in the wake of the deadly act of aggression.
In a statement released on Monday, the Joint Chamber of Palestinian Resistance Groups urged all resistance fighters in Jenin and its refugee camp to stand by each other and fight the enemy in a unified manner.
In response, Palestinian resistance fighters took up arms to defend the city. Footage from the scene shows an Israeli military helicopter airlifting injured troops.
The Palestinian resistance said it has inflicted heavy damage on the Israeli forces in a number of ambushes.
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