Axios: Trump furious with Netanyahu over criticism of F-35s to Turkey
The meeting between the two leaders has been cancelled for the time being
No meeting is currently scheduled between Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu. One of the reasons is said to be the US president’s deep irritation at the Israeli prime minister’s criticism of the possibility that Trump might decide to sell F-35s to Turkey. This is reported by Axios, citing several sources, according to whom Netanyahu’s interview with Fox infuriated the president, who is convinced that “Bibi has no right whatsoever” to influence Trump’s decision.
Further complicating relations – which had already been strained for weeks – was a warning from Israeli intelligence about a possible new Iranian plot to assassinate Trump. The alert forced the president to abandon the new Air Force One and fly on the old one. Several American sources described the alert as unsubstantiated by evidence. “It was more of a wish than an operational plan,” the sources told Axios. Turkish security services also investigated the threat, concluding that there was no specific plot to assassinate Trump in Ankara, where he was attending the NATO summit.
Netanyahu, according to the Israeli Prime Minister’s office, will instead travel to the United States at the end of the month, as Senator Lindsey Graham’s funeral has been postponed until then. Graham, a long-standing supporter of Israel in the US Senate and a friend of Netanyahu, died suddenly at the age of 71 in recent days. Netanyahu was due to meet US President Donald Trump during his visit, against the backdrop of growing tensions between the US and Iran and US-backed negotiations with Lebanon.
