Israel to purchase 25 more F-35 fighter jets from US

Israel has approved the purchase of 25 more F-35 Lightning II fighter jets from the United States in a deal worth $3 billion, the country’s defence ministry said.

“The new agreement will ensure the continuation of cooperation between American companies and Israeli defence industries in the production of aircraft parts,” the ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

The deal is set to be finalised in the coming months, it added.

The ministry said that the aircraft will be financed through American military aid to Israel and that the maker of the plane, Lockheed Martin, and the maker of its engine, Pratt & Whitney, had committed to involving Israeli companies in the production process.

In September 2016, the US announced an aid deal that would give the Israeli military $38 billion from 2019 to 2028.

The F-35 is the world’s most advanced fighter jet, and Israel is the only country in the Middle East to fly them.

With the acquisition of a third F-35 stealth fighter jet fleet, the number of F-35s in the Israeli Air Force inventory will increase to 75.

Heightened tensions between Israel, Iran

The move to expand the Israeli arsenal comes at a time of heightened tensions between Israel and Iran.

Israel, which considers Iran its greatest enemy, has previously used F-35 jets to shoot down Iranian drones, and has threatened to carry out a long-range strike on Iranian nuclear targets.

Israel accuses Iran of trying to develop a nuclear weapon — a charge Iran denies — and is believed to be behind a string of attacks on Iranian nuclear experts and facilities inside Iran over the years.

Israel, which has sought to counter Iranian entrenchment in neighboring Syria, conducted an airstrike on the Syrian city of Homs on Sunday, one of hundreds of strikes on regime-controlled parts of Syria in recent years.