By Emily Rose
JERUSALEM, July 8 (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth canceled a meeting that had been scheduled for Wednesday to discuss the possible sale of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, an Israeli source told Reuters.
Any such sale would likely anger Israeli officials. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, said Hegseth had also been scheduled to meet Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on a trip to Israel and that Iran would feature in their discussions.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the memorandum of understanding signed to end the conflict that the U.S. and Israel launched against Iran was “over” and that he didn’t want to engage with Tehran.
The U.S. embassy in Israel had no immediate comment on Hegseth’s planned meetings.
Turkey, a NATO member, has long criticised Israeli operations in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria, and it has repeatedly accused Israel of trying to undermine the U.S.-Iran ceasefire deal mediated by Pakistan.
In an interview with CNN on Tuesday, Netanyahu said he opposed the sale of F-35s to Turkey, and that he had made his opposition clear to Trump.
“It would destroy the power balance in the Middle East because Turkey has aggressive aspirations,” Netanyahu told CNN.
Trump, who is attending a NATO summit in Turkey along with Hegseth, announced on Tuesday he would lift U.S. sanctions imposed on Ankara over its 2019 purchase of Russian air defense missiles, and he signalled a willingness to sell the NATO ally F-35 fighter jets, a move likely to face strong resistance in Congress as well as in Israel.
Bilateral relations had deteriorated sharply over Turkey’s acquisition of the Russian S-400 system, which prompted the U.S. to impose sanctions on a major Turkish defense company and remove Ankara from the F-35 stealth fighter jet program.
Ties have improved markedly since Trump’s return to the White House in January 2025, but the jet sales remain blocked under U.S. law.
(Reporting by Emily RoseEditing by Gareth Jones, Aidan Lewis)
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