🔸U.S. defense secretary meeting with Netanyahu canceled over possible F-35 sale to Turkey

Reuters, citing an Israeli source, reported that Pete Hegseth, the U.S. defense secretary, canceled his scheduled meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, regarding the possibility of selling F-35 fighter jets to Turkey. According to the source, Hegseth was also due to meet with Yoav Gallant, Israel’s defense minister, during his trip to Israel, and the Iran issue was one of the main topics of the discussions.

The Israeli source, who did not want to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters that any sale of F-35s to Turkey would likely provoke anger among Israeli officials.

Netanyahu also told CNN that he opposes the sale of these fighter jets to Turkey and that he had conveyed this opposition directly to Trump.

Donald Trump, who is in Turkey to attend a NATO summit, announced on Tuesday that he would lift U.S. sanctions on Ankara that were imposed after Turkey’s purchase of Russia’s S-400 air defense system in 2019.