U.S. Defense Secretary Cancels Meeting with Israeli Prime Minister over Possible F-35 Sale to Turkey

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth canceled a meeting scheduled for Wednesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that had been set to discuss a possible sale of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey, an Israeli source told Reuters. The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Hegseth had also been scheduled to meet Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz and that Iran would be part of the talks.

Any sale of the jets would likely anger Israeli officials.

Turkey, a NATO member, has long criticized Israeli operations in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria and has accused Israel of trying to undermine the U.S.-Iran ceasefire deal mediated by Pakistan. Bilateral relations between the U.S. and Turkey deteriorated after Ankara purchased a Russian S-400 air defense system, which led the U.S. to impose sanctions on a Turkish defense company and remove Turkey from the F-35 program.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that he would lift sanctions imposed on Turkey over the 2019 purchase of the Russian missiles and signaled willingness to sell F-35 jets to the NATO ally. The sales remain blocked under U.S. law.

Netanyahu told CNN on Tuesday that he opposed the sale, saying it would "destroy the power balance in the Middle East because Turkey has aggressive aspirations." The U.S. embassy in Israel had no immediate comment on the canceled meetings.