Senate Armed
Services Committee: Continued Security Assistance to Israel, Block F-35 Jets to
Turkey
Breaking Israel News
Latest News Biblical perspective
By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz May 24, 2019 , 10:31 am
“Kings of the earth
take their stand, and regents intrigue together against Hashem and against His
anointed?” Psalms 2:2 (The Israel Bible™)
Illustrative: an artist’s impression of F-35 Lightning II
Aircraft at 15,000 feet. (Photo: Shutterstock.com)
The U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee approved a $750
billion 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on Wednesday that
includes the continuation of American assistance to Israel for missile-defense
programs and at the same time blocks the transfer of F-35 jets to Turkey.
The closed-door vote was 25-2.
The Pentagon blueprint for the upcoming year allocates
$500 million towards missile-defense systems in Israel such as the Iron Dome,
David’s Sling and Arrow 3.
Like last year’s final version, the
Senate version of the 2020 NDAA also temporarily halts the sale of F-35 fighter
jets to Turkey. This comes amid tensions between Washington and Ankara with the
latter seeking to purchase a Russian defense system.
“The bill sends a clear message to [Turkish President
Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan who insists that he can acquire both the S-400
air-defense system and the F-35 jets,” Aykan Erdemir, who served in the Turkish
parliament from 2011 to 2015, and now serves as a senior fellow at the
Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told JNS.
“It is also a reminder that acquiring the Russian
hardware would cost Ankara not only the F-35 jets, but also the lucrative
business partnership, which is expected to provide revenues to the tune of $12
billion to Turkish firms in the F-35 supply chain,” he continued.
In the long term, said Erdemir, “the optimists would see
this bill as a move to deter Erdoğan from making a costly mistake that would
hurt not only Turkey’s security, diplomacy and economy, but also the transatlantic
alliance. The Turkish president’s worrying track record in foreign and security
policy, however, demonstrates that he is prone to settle for lose-lose options,
and this might again end up being another one of those ill-advised steps.”
Diliman Abdulkader, director of the Kurdish Project at
the Endowment for Middle East Truth, has been working on the F-35 issue
that includes advising lawmakers against selling the U.S. defense product to
Ankara.
“This shouldn’t surprise anyone following the Turkish
purchase of the Russian defense systems,” Abdulkader told JNS. “The U.S. warned
Turkey time and time again to cancel the purchase and abide by its NATO
obligations. Turkey is choosing to play hardball.”
“Congress is finally realizing Turkey’s inconsistency as
an ally and as a NATO partner. The move by the Senate Armed Services Committee
is a positive one, it only shows that the U.S. will no longer play by Turkey’s
terms, that Erdoğan can no longer stall the process and that a red line has
been drawn,” he continued. “The next step is for [U.S.] President [Donald]
Trump to follow through on the Senate’s actions and see Turkey for what it is:
an unreliable ally.”
The NDAA will need an appropriations bill to fund it.
The U.S. House of Representatives Armed Services
Committee is expected to release their version of the NDAA in the coming weeks.
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