Israel wants production role in F-35, so they can, as with the F-16/Lavi, they can later sell the tech to China, or India, or Venezuela, or ...
In the coming weeks, officials said, the Defense Ministry will receive an official letter from the Pentagon detailing the price of the aircraft and also finalizing some of the outstanding issues between the sides regarding the integration of Israeli defense suites into the plane, as well as allowing Israel to independently maintain the aircraft without needing to send it to Europe for repairs.
Israel has lost trust from US for its involvement in providing ChiNazi advanced weapon systems. It will not be years for that damage to be cured, giving access to sensitive technology. I believe Israel should purchase F-15SE Silent Eagle instead.
/mark