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Turkey Supports Russia and Hamas; The US Should Not Give It F-35 Fighter Jets
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi review a guard of honor during a welcoming ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey, Sept. 4, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Murad Sezer
Recent discussions between Turkey and the United States indicate that the Biden administration is actively pursuing Ankara’s reinstatement in the F-35 program.
It is difficult to justify why Washington would want to arm Turkey with these highly advanced fighter jets, when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan takes fervent measures to undermine the core security interests of the United States, NATO, and our transatlantic allies.
Turkey’s eligibility to acquire F-35s was abruptly ended in 2019, in response to Ankara’s insistence on acquiring the Russian-made S-400 air defense system.
Erdogan repeatedly ignored Washington’s warnings that the integration of the Russian system could compromise NATO systems and enable Russia to undermine and steal the F-35s stealth capabilities. Upon delivery of the S-400s, the Trump administration removed Turkey from the F-35 program, and imposed strict sanctions under the provisions of the Countering of America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act.
Turkey now wants to backtrack from this fateful decision, and has initiated a dialogue with Washington to find a way back into the F-35 program, and Washington is listening.
This is a serious mistake by Washington, and on several fronts.
First, Turkey’s proposed solution to address the S-400 is an insufficient remedy to qualify for receiving a strategic platform that ensures NATO’s competitive edge against adversaries. In late August, Turkish officials reportedly pitched their American counterparts with a plan to permanently warehouse Turkey’s S-400s, but have shown no willingness to completely shut down or transfer the system to American supervision.
More alarmingly, Turkey is not a true believer in the values that define NATO; in fact, President Erdogan presents a clear threat to the objectives and security of the alliance and its members.
In early September 2024, President Erdogan announced his decision to apply to join the non-aligned movement BRICS+. At NATO’s Washington summit in July, he reiterated his desire for Turkey to become a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). Both of these organizations are not only the antitheses of Western economic and security institutions of which Turkey is a member, but also are dedicated to undermining the rules-based order of the free world.
Most recently, Erdogan gave an interview on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, in which he boasted about Ankara’s expanding relations with Russia and implied that Ankara stands against Ukraine’s membership bid in NATO.
It is not a far leap to assume that Turkey plans on playing a spoiler role in any attempt by Ukraine to join NATO, just as it did with Finland and Sweden between 2022 and 2023.
Ankara’s hardened anti-Israeli stance makes Washington’s embrace of Turkey even more perplexing. On July 12, at the NATO summit in Washington, Turkey threatened to take steps to exclude Israel from all cooperation with NATO. President Erdogan said that “until comprehensive, sustainable peace is established in Palestine, attempts at cooperation with Israel within NATO will not be approved by Turkey.”
Threats to Israel emanating from Ankara are not merely rhetorical.
Erdogan’s Islamist worldview, deeply antisemitic and anti-Israeli, inform his country’s actions. Turkey is the only country in NATO to champion the cause of Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist organization under the laws of the US, EU, and Canada.
Since October 7, 2023, Erdogan has ramped up his provision of diplomatic, logistical, and perhaps even military support to Hamas.
On July 21, 2024, Israel’s internal security service, the Shin Bet, foiled a Hamas terrorist attack orchestrated from Turkey. The Shin Bet captured five terrorists who attested to the military training, weaponry, and cash they acquired in Turkey. Israeli security has repeatedly intercepted weaponry and explosive precursors originating from Turkey that smugglers were attempting to get into Gaza.
At a party conference in Rize, Turkey, on July 28, 2024, Erdogan went as far as to threaten to invade Israel right after a Hezbollah rocket supplied by Iran killed 12 children in the Israeli Druze town of Majdal Shams. Erdogan’s inflammatory rhetoric, coupled with his material support for terrorists, suggests that Ankara may pursue an extremely dangerous escalatory posture in the developing conflict between Israel, Hezbollah, and Iran.
Given this track record, it is beyond nonsensical why the Biden administration is entering into a dialogue with Ankara, to explore ways to arm Turkey with the Western alliance’s premier strategic weapons capability. It is irresponsible and dangerous. Washington already authorized the sale of new F-16 fighter jets to Ankara in January 2024, to ensure that the Turkish Air Force could maintain readiness as a NATO ally. It is way too soon to begin discussions about ways Ankara can be equipped with F-35s — even if it removes the S-400s from its military inventory. Such a conversation can only begin once a relationship of trust is established with Turkey.
Turkey cannot join a security alliance with the likes of Russia, Iran, and China while being invited back into the F-35 program. Turkey must also make efforts to disentangle itself from Russia’s wartime economy. The US Treasury Department has already sanctioned dozens of Turkish companies and individuals supporting Putin, and this must come to an end.
Turkey must once again chart a serious path to join the European Union. Turkey must join its allies in taking the highest and most punitive measures to undermine Russia’s illegal war efforts against Ukraine, beginning with joining the sanctions regime against Moscow. It must demonstrate a verifiable track record of not antagonizing other NATO members, such as Greece, and EU countries like Cyprus.
It must apologize for its many years of supporting jihadist terrorist networks in the region, beginning with Hamas, but also the Muslim Brotherhood and jihadist militias such as ISIS inside Syria and Iraq. Such entities, which have offices and personnel inside Turkey, must be disestablished, and its operatives extradited to face justice for their crimes. Ankara must disclose and divest itself of all the ways in which it supports such entities.
Finally, any and all discussions about Turkey acquiring US defense programs must begin with Ankara coming into compliance with both the letter and spirit of the Countering American Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA). The most advanced American technology is meant to protect American national security and should be shared only with Washington’s most committed allies and partners. Turkey does not meet that standard.
Sinan Ciddi is a nonresident senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Follow him on X: @SinanCiddi. Sophia Epley is an intern at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a student at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.
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Iran Rejects US Nuclear Proposal, Says ‘Counteroffer’ Coming as Talks Stall Over Uranium Enrichment, Sanctions
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, May 20, 2025. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
Iran has denounced the latest nuclear proposal from the United States as “unprofessional and untechnical,” reaffirming the country’s right to enrich uranium and announcing plans to present a counteroffer in the coming days.
“After receiving the American proposal regarding the Iranian nuclear program, we are now preparing a counteroffer,” Ali Shamkhnai, political adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said in an interview on Wednesday.
Shamkhani criticized the White House draft proposal as “not well thought out,” emphasizing its alleged failure to address sanction relief — a key demand for Tehran under any deal with Washington.
“There is no mention whatsoever of lifting sanctions in the latest American proposal, even though the issue of sanctions is a fundamental matter for Iran,” Shamkhnai said.
The Iranian official also warned that Tehran will not allow the US to dismantle its “peaceful nuclear program” or force uranium enrichment down to zero.
“Iran will never relinquish its natural rights,” Shamkhani said.
Washington’s draft proposal for a new nuclear deal was delivered by Omani officials — who have been mediating negotiations between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff — during last month’s talks in Rome.
On Wednesday, Khamenei dismissed such an offer, saying it “contradicts our nation’s belief in self-reliance” and runs counter to Iran’s key objectives.
“The proposal that the Americans have presented is 100 percent against our interests,” the Iranian leader said during a televised speech.
“The rude and arrogant leaders of America repeatedly demand that we should not have a nuclear program. Who are you to decide whether Iran should have enrichment?” Khamenei continued.
After five rounds of talks, diplomatic efforts have yet to yield results as both adversaries clash over Iran’s demand to maintain its domestic uranium enrichment program — a condition the White House has firmly rejected.
In April, Tehran and Washington held their first official nuclear negotiation since the US withdrew from a now-defunct 2015 nuclear deal that had imposed temporary limits on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanction relief.
Since taking office, US President Donald Trump has sought to curtail Tehran’s potential to develop a nuclear weapon that could spark a regional arms race and pose a threat to Israel.
Meanwhile, Iran seeks to have Western sanctions on its oil-dependent economy lifted, while maintaining its nuclear enrichment program — which the country insists is solely for civilian purposes.
As part of the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran — which aims to cut the country’s crude exports to zero and prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon — Washington has been targeting Tehran’s oil industry with mounting sanctions.
Amid the ongoing diplomatic deadlock, Israel has declared it will never allow the Islamist regime to acquire nuclear weapons, as the country views Iran’s nuclear program as an existential threat.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to uphold any agreement that prevents Tehran from enriching uranium.
“But in any case, Israel maintains the right to defend itself from a regime that is threatening to annihilate it,” Netanyahu said in a press conference last month, following reports that Jerusalem could strike Iranian nuclear sites if ongoing negotiations between Washington and Tehran fail.
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Day After Colorado Attack, Founder of Anti-Israel Group Chides Activists Who Are Insufficiently ‘Pro-Resistance’
Nerdeen Kiswani, founder of WithinOurLifetime (WOL), leading a pro-Hamas demonstration in New York City on Aug. 14, 2024. Photo: Michael Nigro via Reuters Connect
Nerdeen Kiswani, the founder of the radical anti-Israel organization Within Our Lifetime, chastised those within the pro-Palestinian movement who only support “resistance” in the abstract but not in practice following Sunday’s antisemitic attack in Boulder, Colorado.
“A lot of people who call themselves anti-Zionist or pro-resistance don’t actually understand what resistance is,” Kiswani posted on X/Twitter on Monday. “They support it in theory, but when it shows up in practice, they hesitate, distance themselves, or shift the conversation entirely.”
She continued, “And it makes it even harder for those of us who are principled to take public stances. We’re already marginalized, already painted as extreme or dangerous and that isolation only deepens when others in the movement won’t stand firm when it counts.”
Kiswani’s comments came the day after a man threw Molotov cocktails at a Boulder gathering where participants were rallying in support of the Israeli hostages who remain in captivity in Gaza — which resulted in 15 injuries, including some critically, in what US authorities called a targeted terrorist attack. Her tweets also came less than two weeks after a gunman murdered two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, DC, while they were leaving an at the Capital Jewish Museum hosted by the American Jewish Committee. In both attacks, the perpetrator yelled “Free Palestine” as they targeted innocent civilians, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
After Kiswani’s social media posts sparked some backlash among pro-Israel users on X, she provided limited pushback on the idea that it was an expression of support for the prior day’s attack in Colorado.
“Zionists are freaking out in the QTs about this, insisting it’s about Colorado,” she wrote. “Newsflash: the world doesn’t revolve around you. Resistance hasn’t stopped in Gaza, look at what just happened in Jabalia [where three IDF soldiers were killed] for instance. The perpetual victimhood is getting old.”
However, Kiswani did not say her comment had no connection to the attack in Colorado, and she did not say that she opposed the firebombing.
Kiswani and her group, Within Our Lifetime (WOL), have been at the forefront of anti-Israel and pro-Hamas activism since Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists killed 1,200 people and abducted 251 hostages during their invasion of southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, a massacre that started the war in Gaza.
On Oct. 8, 2023, one day after the biggest single-day slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust, WOL organized a protest to celebrate the prior day’s attack, which it described as an effort to “defend the heroic Palestinian resistance.” Kiswani notably refused to condemn Hamas and the Oct. 7 massacre following the atrocities.
Then, in Apil 2024, Kiswani refused to condemn the chant “Death to America” and organized a mass demonstration to block the “arteries of capitalism” by staging a blockade of commercial shipping ports across the world in protest of Western support for the Jewish state. That same month, she was banned from Columbia University’s campus in New York City after leading chants calling for an “intifada,” or violent uprising.
The following month, Kiswani led a demonstration in Brooklyn, New York in which she lambasted the local police department, claimed then-US President Joe Biden will soon die, and called for the destruction of Israel.
That proceeded the activist saying she does not want Zionists “anywhere” in the world while speaking in defense of a person who called for “Zionists” to leave a crowded subway car in New York City.
WOL, which planned a protest last year to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 massacre, was also behind demonstrations at the Nova Music Festival exhibit, which commemorated the more than 300 civilians slaughtered by Hamas while at a music festival.
The latter protest prompted widespread condemnation, including from Biden and even progressive members of the US Congress who are outspoken against Israel.
US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), for example, posted on social media that the “callousness, dehumanization, and targeting of Jews on display at last night’s protest outside the Nova Festival exhibit was atrocious antisemitism – plain and simple.”
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Israel’s Defense Exports Hit Record $15 Billion in 2024 Despite European Pressure, Calls for Arms Embargo
Israeli troops on the ground in Gaza. Photo: IDF via Reuters
Israel reached a new all-time high in defense exports in 2024, nearing $15 billion — the fourth consecutive year of record-breaking sales — despite mounting international criticism over the war in Gaza and growing pressure from European countries to suspend arms deals.
In a press release on Wednesday, Israel’s Defense Ministry announced that defense exports reached over $14.7 billion last year — a 13 percent increase from 2023 — with more than half of the deals valued at over $100 million.
According to the ministry, Israel’s military exports have more than doubled over the past five years, highlighting the industry’s rapid expansion and growing global demand.
“This tremendous achievement is a direct result of the successes of the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] and defense industries against Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, the Ayatollah regime in Iran, and in additional arenas where we operate against Israel’s enemies,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement.
“The world sees Israeli strength and seeks to be a partner in it. We will continue strengthening the IDF and the Israeli economy through security innovation to ensure clear superiority against any threat – anywhere and anytime,” Katz continued.
In 2024, over half of the Jewish state’s defense contracts were with European countries — up from 35 percent the previous year — as many in the region have increased their defense spending following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Despite increasing pressure and widespread anti-Israel sentiment among European governments amid the current conflict in Gaza, this latest data seems to contradict recent calls by European leaders to impose an arms embargo on the Jewish state over its defensive campaign in Gaza against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.
On Wednesday, Germany reversed its earlier threat to halt arms deliveries to Israel, reaffirming its commitment to continue cooperation and maintain defense contracts with Jerusalem.
“Germany will continue to support the State of Israel, including with arms deliveries,” German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul told lawmakers in parliament.
Last week, Berlin warned it would take unspecified measures against Israel if it continued its military campaign in Gaza, citing concerns that exported weapons were being used in violation of humanitarian law.
“Our full support for the right to exist and the security of the State of Israel must not be instrumentalized for the conflict and the warfare currently being waged in the Gaza Strip,” Wadephul said in a statement.
Germany would be “examining whether what is happening in the Gaza Strip is compatible with international humanitarian law,” he continued. “Further arms deliveries will be authorized based on the outcome of that review.”
Spain and Ireland are among the countries in Europe that have threatened or taken steps to limit arms deals with Israel, while others such as France have threatened unspecified harsh measures against the Jewish state.
According to the Israeli defense ministry’s report, since the outbreak of war on Oct. 7, 2023, after the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel, the operational successes and proven battlefield performance of Israeli systems have fueled strong international demand for Israel’s defense technology.
Last year, the export of missiles, rockets, and air defense systems reached a new high, making up 48 percent of the total deal volume — up from 36 percent in 2023.
Similarly, satellite and space systems exports surged, accounting for 8 percent of total deals in 2024 — quadrupling their share from 2 percent in 2023.
While Europe dominated Israel’s defense export market in 2024, significant portions also went to other regions. Asia and the Pacific made up 23 percent of total sales — slightly lower than in previous years, when the region approached 30 percent.
Exports to Abraham Accords countries fell to 12 percent, down from 23 percent in 2022, while North America remained stable at around 9 percent.
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