Posted on 05/19/2015 11:31:24 PM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
Israel has put out feelers to the US about increased military aid in the form of fighter aircraft and missile defense systems to offset the expected deal with Iran on its nuclear program, according to reports in Israeli media. The reports range from speculation to concrete news of “preliminary” and “unofficial” talks.
Ronen Bergman of the mass circulation Yediot Ahronot, a journalist specializing in defense and intelligence issues, cited an unnamed senior American source as saying that "the White House is willing to pay a hefty price to get some quiet from the Israelis at this point. We are surprised the (Israeli) demand has not been made."
But the newspaper also quoted an unnamed Israeli source as conveying a more ambivalent stance about the reported talks.
“If we come with demands at this point, it would mean that we have given up our objections to the deal, and now it is just a matter of at what price. If Israel believes that the deal is bad for its security, it cannot appear as someone who gave up in the end,” the paper quoted the source as saying.
Veteran defense analyst Amos Harel, writing Wednesday in the daily Haaretz, said the United States and Israel have begun “unofficial contacts” regarding special American military aid for Israel.
“Although neither side has said so explicitly, the Obama administration plans to provide Israel substantial defense compensation if an agreement is signed between Tehran and the world powers to limit Iran’s nuclear program. This is in light of the continued defense risk perceived coming from Iran, as well as huge arms deals between the Washington and the Gulf states,” according to Haaretz.
Under US law, the American administration must act to maintain Israel’s military superiority over its neighbors.
According to the reports in both Haaretz and Yediot, the US-Israel talks revolved around enhancing a previously negotiated deal to supply Israel with 33 F-35 aircraft, the first batch of which was expected next year. The total number of jets could go up to 50, Haaretz reported.
Israel was also said to be asking for more Iron Dome batteries, additional assistance with the Arrow 3 missile system developed jointly by the US and Israel, and possibly, for the purchase of technological systems for intelligence gathering, The Times of Israel reported.
Earlier this month, the US House of Representatives Armed Services Committee approved $474 million for Israel’s anti-missile systems.
The Gulf States are also reportedly negotiating their own “compensation packages” involving advanced equipment and weaponry from the US to counter the perceived Iranian threat.
Meanwhile, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, considered a Republican candidate for the presidency, criticized President Obama’s handling of nuclear talks with Iran.
“With Iran, the President’s eagerness for a deal on their nuclear program has him ready to accept a bad deal,” Christie said in a speech.
“The price of inaction is steadily rising. Just last week we saw the embarrassment of almost all the Gulf leaders, including the Saudi King, pulling out of President Obama’s summit at Camp David. Our allies want policies, not photo ops, and we’re not listening to them,” he said.
“The deal as structured will lead to a nuclear Iran and, then, a nuclearized Middle East,” he added. “I have grave concerns over how we’re going to make Iranians live up to their end of the bargain.”
How about a weapons platform that actually works instead?
Fine and proper to provide Israel more defenses and planes and so forth. But that is still not a solution to Obama enabling the worst most rabidly anti- Anerican islamonazis in Iran to get nuclear bombs and icbms to deliver them. The biggest threat is to USA cities anyway per Iran and we have no reason in the world not to believe them. Now Saudi is calling in its chips for financing the Pakistan nuclear bomb project - and 17 of the 19 World Trade Center Arabs came from Saudi Connect the dots
More weapons to both sides in the Mideast? That’s insane.
A few extra fighters won’t do much good when the nukes fall on Jerusalem.
But, then, a few fighters is a small price to pay given Obama’s wish to see the Israelis obliterated.
Here’s an idea; if the USAF wants to retire our A-10 Wart Hogs, how about giving a bunch of them to Israel?
I bet the IDFAF would put them to good use.
Might have to call them something else though; I don’t think Wart Hogs are Kosher.
How about going to K-mart and buying a clue?
To me, the biggest endorsement of the F-35 is that the Israelis are buying it. That jet is a serious investment for their economy. If the F-35 was a piece of junk, they’d be buying Block 60 F-16s and F-15E Strike Eagles at 1/3rd the cost. Get your head out of the never-F-35 blogs, they’re doing you no favors. No wait, I changed my mind. The never-F-35 crowd is the greatest disinformation campaign in the world, the CIA couldn’t buy that at any price. Please continue....
The A-10 is not allowed to be sold to foreign countries, so hack that idea. And the USAF never wanted to retire the A-10, that was a decision force on them by the 2nd worst SecDef in history Robert Gates. Gates is such a loser that when he was an officer in USAF’s Strategic Air Command in the 1960s, he couldn’t get promoted past O-1 2nd Lieutenant. It took him 50 years but when he got his chance to screw the Air Force, he did in spades. This is the same asshat that chopped F-22 procurement to 183 planes. If I were king for a day, that bastard would be in Ft. Leavenworth at hard labor.
The real story with the A-10 is that even though scumbag loser SecDef Gates mandated that it be retired, USAF slow-rolled it until he was gone and they were able to revive it in face of a hostile Congress that only saw the A-10 as a cost on a balance sheet. The A-10 is being funded today and Boeing has a multi-billion dollar contract to build over 300 wings for the A-10 to keep it going. Thank Trump for reversing the horrible decision of the worst SecDef since McNamara.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.