Esper, meeting with Gantz, reaffirms commitment to Israel's regional military edge
Israel Defense Minister Benny Gantz and US Defense Secretary Mark Esper expressed confidence the US would maintain Israel's qualitative military edge
Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz met with US Defense Secretary Mark Esper at the Pentagon on Tuesday to discuss maintaining Israel’s qualitative military edge in the region amid a Trump administration proposal to sell the United Arab Emirates the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft.
“The defense relationship between the US and Israel has never been stronger. And we intend to keep it that way,” Esper said.
Esper called the long-standing US policy to maintain Israel’s regional military superiority “a cornerstone” of the US-Israel relationship. “The United States is committed to that and the Department of Defense is committed to that,” he said.
Al-Monitor had earlier reported that Gantz was likely to request that Israel be given additional hardware to ensure its military edge, and that it be given the option to sell advanced US-Israeli drone technology to the UAE.
