Emirati minister: Israel-UAE deal will make it easier to buy F-35s from US

20 August 2020, 4:40 pm

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Anwar Gargash, the Emirati minister of state for foreign affairs, says the pending agreement between Israel and the UAE to normalize diplomatic ties will make it easier for Abu Dhabi to acquire F-35 stealth fighters from the United States.

“The F-35, the UAE has already indicated that it wants the F-35 six years ago. It’s already on the table. We have legitimate requests that are there, and we ought to get them. This is not, in my opinion, we ought to get them and the whole idea of a state of belligerency or war with Israel, so I think it should actually be easier. But the F-35, as I’ve said, is a request that we made six years ago,” Gargash says in an interview with the Washington-based Atlantic Council.

— Aaron Boxerman