From the Liveblog of
Thursday, January 3, 2019
Croatia gives Israel deadline on F-16 sale being held up by US
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — Croatia on Thursday urges Israel to overcome a rare disagreement with the US and confirm whether it can carry through on a deal to sell 12 used F-16 fighter jets, adding that otherwise the purchase will be annulled.
Croatia’s Defense Ministry says it needs an answer from Israel by January 11.
The tentative $500 million deal to buy the upgraded F-16 Barak fighter jets from Israel was made in March last year pending US approval allowing Israel to sell the American-made jets to a third party. The deal ran into trouble after the US State Department hinted that Israel needs to strip off the upgrades that were added after Israel bought the planes from the US some 30 years ago.
Israel has upgraded the jets with sophisticated electronic and radar systems, which was crucial in Croatia’s decision to buy the planes from Israel rather than from the US.
“If the planes are not in accordance with what we have agreed, the deal will not be carried out and we will have another purchase bid,” Croatia’s parliament speaker Gordan Jandrokovic says.
Relations between the Trump administration and Israel have been very close, particularly on defense issues. But the sale of the jets to Croatia appear to be one of the rare disagreements between the two countries. They were not overcome even after a meeting between US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday in Brazil, according to the Israeli media.
— AP
The Times of Israel Community.