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Source: https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-901656
Providing Turkey with F-35 Jets Endangers Israel
(Jerusalem Post) Editorial - The F-35 is a strategic platform. It would give Turkey stealth, reach, intelligence-gathering capacity, and a place inside a military ecosystem built on trust. That trust was broken when Ankara chose the Russian S-400. It was broken again by Erdogan's embrace of Hamas, his threats against Israel, and his use of anti-Israel incitement as a pillar of his regional identity. Erdogan has repeatedly taken what the West offers and used it to expand his room for maneuver. He trades with Moscow, pressures NATO allies, threatens Greece and Cyprus, courts Islamist movements, and then asks Washington for another prize. Rewarding this pattern would be a serious mistake. For Israel, the issue is existential. Israeli air superiority is not a luxury. It is how a small country surrounded by threats prevents wider war. It allows Israel to strike Iranian weapons convoys, deter Hizbullah, monitor Syria, defend its skies, and keep hostile armies from believing they can change the map by force. Weakening that edge would invite adventurism.