President Trump has approved a $23 billion arms deal with the United Arab Emirates that will permit the Gulf state to purchase “up to 50” F-35 stealth fighter jets.
“This is in recognition of our deepening relationship and the UAE’s need for advanced defense capabilities to deter and defend itself against heightened threats from Iran,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday.
State Department officials sent Congress a formal notification of the approval earlier Tuesday, following a traditional informal notification in late October. Emirati officials have sought the jets for years but only obtained permission following the signing of Abraham Accords that began to normalize relations between the Arab nation and Israel.
“Our adversaries, especially those in Iran, know this and will stop at nothing to disrupt this shared success,” Pompeo said. “The proposed sale will make the UAE even more capable and interoperable with U.S. partners in a manner fully consistent with America’s longstanding commitment to ensuring Israel’s Qualitative Military Edge.”
Still, some American foreign policy observers, on both sides of the aisle, harbor misgivings that the deal undercuts Israel’s military advantage, the maintenance of which is required by federal law.
“You can’t give any country in the Middle East the best fighter aircraft in the world and not have it affect QME,” the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Bradley Bowman said, arguing that such an F-35 sale should accompany a plan for how to support Israel’s advantage. “The failure to identify specific additional capabilities to keep the balance addressed is going to make the sledding a little bit more tough on Capitol Hill.”
Emirati officials have argued that the deal is justified as Israel and the UAE face a common set of security threats.
“If the U.S. is indeed interested in doing less in the region, don’t you want your partners doing more?” Ambassador Yousef al Otaiba told the Washington Examiner. “Don’t you want your partners buying equipment with their own money as opposed to the U.S. taxpayer money?”
Pompeo leaned on a similar analysis when unveiling the prospective package, which contemplates the sale of $10.4 billion worth of F-35s, another $10 billion for “air-to-air and air-to-ground munitions,” and $2.97 billion of MQ-9 Reaper drones.
“Today’s announcement echoes the enhanced defense cooperation we embarked upon with Egypt in the wake of the 1979 Camp David Accords, as well as our closer security relationship with Jordan following its normalization of ties with Israel in 1994,” he said. “Together, we are committed to securing the success of the Abraham Accords.”
