Obama’s Offer of Free Warplanes for Israel Dies With End to Peace Talks

Bribe Won't Be Paid as Israel Declined 90 Day Freeze

Israel’s hopes to obtain 20 absolutely free of charge F-35 warplanes from the United States as partial payment for their settlement freeze seems to have fallen by the wayside, in no small part because the freeze never came.

Now, with the US having given up on convincing Israel to agree to the 90 day freeze in construction, President Obama is said to have pulled back the pledge. Unsurprising, perhaps, but only a minor delay.

Because some officials are saying that they think the US will probably provide the warplanes to Israel somewhere along the line as part of some future aid package. The reality is that promises of free weapons from the US are a dime a dozen for Israel, and if they missed this train, another will surely be along shortly.

In fact Israel received some $205 million in additional war funding just yesterday, buried in the massive House spending bill. The money will pay for Israel’s Iron Dome system, a system the Israeli military had scrapped for being too expensive and of little use.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.