US President Donald Trump and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands at the conclusion of a joint press conference in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on September 29, 2025. (AFP photo)

Israel is reportedly pressuring the United States to condition any future sale of F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia on Riyadh abandoning its demand for a Palestinian state and formally normalizing ties with Tel Aviv.

Citing Israeli officials, US-based news website Axios reported that Tel Aviv has informed the administration of President Donald Trump that it will not oppose a US decision to provide Saudi Arabia with the stealth jets, but only under those two conditions.

"We told the Trump administration that the supply of F-35s to Saudi Arabia needs to be subject to Saudi normalization with Israel," one Israeli official said, claiming that any deal without such concessions would be "a mistake and counterproductive."

A second Israeli official told the news website that providing Riyadh with the advanced fighter jets would be tolerated only if it became part of a broader "regional security cooperation" framework under the Abraham Accords.

The Abraham Accords are a set of controversial US-brokered agreements that established diplomatic normalization between Israel and some Arab states, including the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

Saudi Arabia has said that normalization with Israel is only possible in exchange for establishing a Palestinian state along the 1967 borders, or at a minimum, a clear and binding "pathway" toward it.

According to Axios, Israel is also expected to demand strict deployment restrictions to ensure US F-35 fighter jets are not stationed in western Saudi Arabia, close to Israeli airspace.

embed

Meanwhile, Israeli media reported that senior military officials have warned Washington against selling the aircraft to Saudi Arabia, describing it as a "clear and immediate danger."

An Israeli military official claimed that such a deal could undermine the regime`s ability to defend its airspace if Saudi Arabia were ever to "fall into the hands of extremists."

Israeli outlet Ynetnews reported that "Netanyahu appears willing to pay this price in exchange for removing the prospect of a Palestinian state from the negotiating table."

"The deal: Israel gives up the ‘qualitative military edge`; Saudi Arabia gives up a Palestinian state," it wrote.

The report comes as Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) is scheduled to meet Trump at the White House on Tuesday.

After the Gaza summit in Egypt, where a US-brokered ceasefire was signed, Trump told MBS that now that Israel`s two-year war on the Palestinian territory had ended, he wanted Riyadh to move toward normalization with Israel.

In return, according to US officials, Riyadh demanded that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu commit to "a credible, irreversible and time-bound path" toward a Palestinian state, a demand Netanyahu has rejected.

The White House is now hoping for progress during Tuesday`s meeting, though officials acknowledge major gaps remain.

According to Ynet, Israel hopes Trump will pressure MBS into softening the kingdom`s conditions and launch three-way talks that could "materialize in the coming months."

"The Saudis need to change their attitude," one Israeli official said. "It is important that the Trump-MBS meeting will lead to a clear road map toward normalization."

While Israel and the US continue lobbying for normalization with Arab governments, Arab public opinion remains overwhelmingly opposed, describing such moves as a betrayal of Palestinian rights.

Rights advocates also warn that pressuring Arab governments into normalization while Gaza still lies in ruins amounts to political coercion.