A commentary argues that Donald Trump’s apparent willingness to sell F-35 fighter jets to Turkey would be a major strategic setback for Israel. The piece says the renewed prospect is more troubling now than when Trump raised it before, because of Turkey’s sharper anti-Israel rhetoric under Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the fading of Trump’s earlier backing for Israel.
The article says that even if Washington can technically impose major limits on any Turkish F-35s, Trump’s current posture makes it more plausible that Ankara would receive a version with fewer restrictions. It warns that Turkey’s larger, more strategically designed navy would become even more dangerous if its air force gained fifth-generation stealth fighters, since Israel currently offsets that maritime gap through air superiority over the eastern Mediterranean.
The commentary also points to Erdogan’s effort to entrench the “Blue Homeland” doctrine in law. That doctrine claims Turkish national and economic rights across 462,000 square kilometers in the southern Black Sea and the eastern Mediterranean, including about 152 Greek islands and the route planned for Israel’s subsea power cable to Europe. The article says this would sharply raise the risk of future friction.
Other concerns include the F-35’s stealth remaining intact even if its electronic systems are restricted, which could let Turkish aircraft approach Israeli shores undetected until they are tens of kilometers away and strike strategic targets. The piece also warns that sensitive F-35 technology could leak from Turkey to Qatar, Russia, or even China. It says the risk to Russia is especially high as long as Turkey keeps the Russian S-400 air defense system, and that any Russian access could in turn reach Iran. The article concludes that even if Israel stays the region’s strongest air force, its near-total air dominance would be eroded.
