The Trump administration’s decision to approve the sale of F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia has reignited a long-running debate over U.S. arms policy, Middle Eastern power balances and Israel’s long-protected military advantage in the region.
The announcement came Monday in an Oval Office appearance, where President Donald Trump said the United States would move forward with selling the fifth-generation jets to Riyadh—calling the kingdom “a great ally”—while offering no reference to Israel, which has historically shaped the limits of American weapons transfers in the Middle East.
The sale, still subject to U.S. government review and congressional oversight, would make Saudi Arabia the first Arab state to acquire the stealth aircraft.
The prospect marks a major strategic shift that could reshape regional airpower and introduce new friction into U.S.–Israel relations, where American policy has long centered on maintaining Israel’s “qualitative military edge.”
Saudi officials told CNN the kingdom succeeded in separating the aircraft sale from any expectation that it would normalize ties with Israel—an idea the Trump administration had promoted as part of a broader diplomatic realignment before the war in Gaza upended negotiations.
Trump, seeking to deliver a major defense agreement even as diplomatic breakthroughs stalled, “delinked the two issues,” said Nawaf Obaid, a senior fellow at King’s College London.
For Israel, the consequences are potentially significant. A senior Israeli security official described the development as “very concerning,” noting that successive Israeli governments worked quietly with Washington to ensure that no regional military possessed capabilities equivalent to the F-35.
“It is not good for Israel,” the official said, adding that the shift could alter a decades-old assumption about regional air superiority.
This is not the first time a U.S. administration has entertained such a sale. By the end of Trump’s first term, Washington had agreed to sell F-35s to the United Arab Emirates as part of the Abraham Accords, with Israel’s approval.
But the Biden administration froze the deal over concerns about the UAE’s growing defense cooperation with China and doubts about safeguarding sensitive U.S. technology.
Those concerns are likely to resurface with Saudi Arabia. Daniel Shapiro, former U.S. ambassador to Israel involved in the UAE negotiations, said that Riyadh would need to make clear commitments to limit its military ties with Beijing. “In my judgment, it needs to in order for an F-35 program to be fully consistent with U.S. security interests,” he said.
The sale also puts pressure on regional dynamics disrupted by the Gaza war. Saudi officials continue to insist that normalization with Israel remains possible but not under current conditions.
Analysts say Riyadh will not move toward normalization without a credible, irreversible path toward Palestinian statehood—an idea repeatedly dismissed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and rejected by his far-right coalition partners.
The potential sale has already stirred political fallout in Israel. Former military chief Gadi Eisenkot criticized Netanyahu for failing to prevent the deal, arguing that a prime minister who frequently touts his influence in Washington “has lost the ability to defend Israel’s national interests.”
As the administration pushes ahead, the United States is again navigating a familiar set of constraints: its commitment to Israel’s military advantage, its lucrative security partnerships with Gulf states, and the growing strategic implications of China’s expanding foothold in the region.
Trump’s willingness to advance the agreement signals a dramatic acceleration—and one likely to set off a contentious review that could redefine the next chapter of Middle Eastern security.
