Prime Minister Netanyahu said in a Fox News interview that Turkish President Erdogan poses a threat to Israel, Greece, and Cyprus, and destabilizes the region. Netanyahu reiterated his opposition to the sale of F-35 stealth fighters to Turkey.
In a Fox News interview aired Monday afternoon (Jul 6), Prime Minister Netanyahu expanded the list of countries he says Turkish President Erdogan threatens, explicitly naming Greece and Cyprus alongside Israel. Netanyahu reiterated his opposition to the sale of F-35 stealth fighters to Turkey, warning the acquisition would undermine Israeli security and regional stability.
Netanyahu's remarks are the latest in a string of statements The Zioneer has tracked since Monday (Jun 29). At 14:36 Jerusalem that day, Netanyahu first warned that Turkey 'does not deserve F-35s' and that Erdogan threatens Israel's existence. By the same hour, he had issued a formal appeal to President Trump to block the sale, calling Erdogan 'Muslim Brotherhood-controlled' and accusing him of threatening to invade Jerusalem. The sequence shows a rapid escalation in Netanyahu's public campaign, moving from a general statement to a direct appeal to Trump to, now, broadening the threat to include Greece and Cyprus in an interview with a major US network.
As The Zioneer reported earlier this week (Mon 14:37 Jerusalem), Netanyahu said he and Trump see 'eye-to-eye on 99% of issues' but warned against the F-35 sale. The backdrop includes a series of Turkish threats: Erdogan has claimed IDF operations threaten Turkey and raised the possibility of military confrontation (The Zioneer, Thu Jun 11), and has signaled Turkey as an alternative patron for Lebanon. The Zioneer also noted on Jun 25 that Trump's renewed push for the F-35 sale threatens Israel's air supremacy in the Mediterranean.
It remains unclear whether the Fox News interview reflects any new intelligence or diplomatic shift regarding the F-35 sale, or whether it is a continuation of Netanyahu's public messaging campaign. The US administration's position on the transfer has not been publicly updated.
6 developments
- StrongNetanyahu: Turkey must not get F-35 engines, would upset Mideast power balance
- StrongAnalysis: Trump's renewed push for F-35 sale to Turkey threatens Israel's air supremacy in the Mediterranean
- StrongNetanyahu warns Erdogan: 'We have proven what we can do'
- DevelopingMark Levin blasts Trump over reported F-35 sale to Turkey
Source and signal
- Internal intake