Gantz: ‘Not good for Israel’ that other countries acquiring the F-35

Defense Minister Benny Gantz warns that the proliferation of the F-35 fighter jet was “not good for Israel,” following reports that the United States would sell the advanced aircraft to the United Arab Emirates.

“It’s not good for Israel that the plane is going around in other places. We need to talk to the Emiratis, to the Americans, and make sure that our security interests are being upheld,” Gantz tells reporters in a press conference.

Gantz criticizes the fact that he’d been kept in the dark about the normalization agreement until it was announced last Thursday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Israel Hayom newspaper that Gantz and Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi were not informed of the deal in order to prevent them from leaking the information.

“The prime minister informed me of this after the decision was made, so that from the start I couldn’t have known about things that are happening,” Gantz says.

“I believe that it was improper that we weren’t updated. I know that I’ve never in my life leaked anything. When I want to give a briefing, I call you [journalists]. Leaks are other people’s games,” he says.

— Judah Ari Gross