Is Washington trying to give Israel the old freeze-out on the Joint Strike Fighter? Influential Israelis seem to think so. The Tel Aviv daily Haaretz reports that the US continues to delay Israel’s participation in the F-35 program, even after the two countries resolved their security dispute over weapons technology sales this past summer and personnel changes were made at the Israeli Defense Ministry. The U.S. has agreed to renew activities on a series of security and strategic cooperation that had previously been suspended, but the JSF ban remains until the Knesset passes new legislation relating to Israeli weapons technology exports. Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz is scheduled to travel to Washington next month to talk with Donald Rumsfeld about the restriction.
A U.S. F-35C shot down an Iranian drone operating near the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier Feb. 3 in a dramatic incident that American military officials cautioned could lead to conflict amid heightened tensions between Iran and the U.S.
