Report: Israel Pressured UAE to Prevent Turkey's Return to F-35 Program

According to the Turkish news site Haber 7, Israel pressured the United Arab Emirates not to purchase Russian-made S-400 air defense systems from Turkey, in order to prevent the lifting of American sanctions on Ankara and the opening of the way for its return to the F-35 fighter jet program.

The S-400 systems have been at the center of the dispute between Ankara and Washington for years. The United States imposed sanctions on Turkey's defense industries authority following the purchase of the systems from Russia, and Turkey was excluded from the F-35 program. Now Ankara is trying to get the systems out of its hands and bring about the lifting of the sanctions.

Already on July 10 it was reported in Turkey that the S-400 systems were sold to a country in the Gulf, and later it emerged that it was the United Arab Emirates, but since then no report has been published on completion of the deal. According to Haber 7, the delay did not stem from an obstacle from Russia, which has already reached understandings with Ankara, but from an appeal by Israel to the leadership of the United Arab Emirates. It was also claimed in the report that Israel has managed to convince the United Arab Emirates so far to refrain from making a final decision on the matter.

U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Brock said yesterday in New York that talks on lifting the sanctions and removing S-400 systems from Turkey's hands are continuing. U.S. President Trump said in July, during his visit to Ankara for the NATO summit: 'It is time to lift the sanctions.'

According to the report, in Ankara they have already formulated a new formula in an attempt to overcome the obstacle, and in Haber 7 they assessed that with a formula that could be formulated with American assistance, it would be possible to overcome Israeli opposition. It is unclear whether the issue came up in the meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Trump on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.