The visit of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) to America is being discussed everywhere. The Crown Prince, who reached the White House on Tuesday, met the US President, where he was welcomed like a head of state arriving in America on a ‘state visit’, although he is the actual ruler of Saudi, not the head of state. During his visit, important talks took place on investment and defense issues, which also included an important announcement on F-35 stealth fighter jets.
This fighter jet is the world’s most advanced fighter jet which only Israel has in the Middle East. Now Trump has announced during his meeting with MBS that he will give his luxurious jet to Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia wants 48 fighter jets from America.
Trump’s announcement regarding F-35 jets has troubled Israel. Israel says that this will affect its military advantage in the Middle East.
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MBS has also approved huge investments in America during his visit. During the meeting with Trump, the Crown Prince said that Saudi Arabia will increase its investment in America from $600 billion to $1 trillion. The main focus of this investment will be on technology, artificial intelligence, data centers and advanced manufacturing.
There is a lot of discussion in Israel about this meeting between Trump and MBS and the announcements made during it. Israeli media has also covered almost every major update of the meeting.
What is Israeli media saying?
Almost all Israeli newspapers, news websites and TV channels have prominently covered Trump’s announcement of providing F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia. A lot of news has also been published on the announcement of Saudi investment in America.
News website Israel National News has published an article which includes the comments of Arab affairs expert Zvi Ezekiel on the Trump-MBS meeting. Quoting experts, Israeli media wrote that President Trump’s announcement of selling F-35 jets to Saudi Arabia is worrying, but it is not a matter of great concern.
The article quoted an expert as saying, ‘Mohammed bin Salman came to the White House because the previous Biden administration considered him a criminal. He was considered a person who could not be invited to the White House. But what is happening now is historical. This shows that Trump has come to do business with them.
‘MBS’s stature is increasing worldwide but…’
The article said that even though MBS’s stature is increasing across the world, he is not considered a strong leader in the Middle East.
According to the article, ‘People around the world like Bin Salman because he is implementing reforms, inviting singers to Jeddah and allowing women to drive. But in the Middle East scenario, Bin Salman is not considered strong. He failed to suppress the Houthi rebels, backed down before the Iranians, backed away from normalization and is not vocal about Palestinian statehood. He is not a leader with a strong backbone and we will have to see what happens in Saudi Arabia in the future.
The Israeli website also mentioned a question asked to Trump in which he was asked, ‘Will the F-35 sold to Saudi Arabia be the same model that Israel uses? In response, Trump said, ‘I think yes, both will be similar to a great extent.’
Israel is justified in being concerned about this response of Trump. He further said, ‘Saudi Arabia is a great partner and Israel is also a great partner. I know that Israel would like Saudi to get a jet with slightly less capacity. But I don’t think Saudi will be happy about this.
‘Trump did not listen to Israel’
Another Israeli newspaper, Times of Israel, has also given prominence to the Trump-MBS meeting. The newspaper writes that Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu government had allegedly told America to give F-35 aircraft to Saudi if it wanted, but in return it would make it a condition of joining the Abraham Accords.
The newspaper wrote, ‘But Trump cut off the issue of Israel and went ahead with the deal. He ignored the concerns of the IDF and US intelligence officials that the deal could harm Israel’s military advances in the region.
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