US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is planning his first visit to Israel since taking office.
CNN reported Monday, citing multiple US government sources, that "Secretary Hegseth plans to visit Israel as early as Tuesday." The network said one purpose of Hegseth's Israel visit is to ease Israel's objections to the US considering a plan to sell F-35 fighter jets to Turkey.
Hegseth is expected to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz in Israel.
US President Donald Trump met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit held in Ankara, Turkey, and said he would lift sanctions on Turkey and allow the sale of F-35s.
"Selling the F-35 is a decision we are going to make, and this is clearly a good plan," Trump stressed. "The F-35 is by far the best fighter jet, and we will consider the sale."
Turkey was excluded from the F-35 program after purchasing Russian-made S-400 air defense systems in 2019, during Trump's first term. At the time, Turkey was set to acquire 100 F-35s but was rejected by the United States. Washington was concerned that if Turkey operated the F-35, information about its stealth capabilities could be leaked to Russia.
Israel is currently the only country operating the F-35 in the Middle East. Netanyahu in particular has maintained a bitter rivalry with Erdogan, frequently clashing with the Turkish leader who strongly criticized Israel during the Gaza war. For this reason, Israel has strongly objected to the news that the US could sell F-35s to Turkey.
"President Erdogan can hardly be considered an exemplary US ally, and he is a figure who threatens to destroy Israel," Netanyahu said. "I plan to directly urge President Trump not to sell fighter jets to Turkey, because selling the jets would collapse the balance of power in the Middle East."
Hegseth, who is currently accompanying Trump at the NATO summit, is expected to leave Turkey on Tuesday and head to Israel. However, some observers say Hegseth's schedule could change as the US carried out additional airstrikes on Iran overnight.
