Pentagon vows to help Israel keep military superiority

WASHINGTON — US Defence Secretary Mark Esper pledged Tuesday to help maintain Israel's military superiority in the Middle East, amid its concerns over a possible US sale of F-35 fighters to the United Arab Emirates.

"A cornerstone of our defence relationship is preserving Israel's qualitative military edge in the region," Esper said as he welcomed Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz to the Pentagon.

"The United States is committed to that, and the Department of Defence is committed to that imperative. We will continue to support the longstanding US policy to maintain Israel's security," said Esper.

The question of whether the United States will sell the advanced fighters to the UAE cast a cloud over the White House ceremony last week for the diplomatic normalisation agreements between Israel and the UAE and Israel and Bahrain.

President Donald Trump said at the time that he would have "no problem" selling F-35 warplanes to the United Arab Emirates, despite objections from Israel.

Israel has long opposed the sale of F-35s to any US allies in the region including Jordan and Egypt.

Such a sale would erode Israel’s military advantage over its neighbours.

Since the 1960s the US has approached the issue on the principle that Israel should maintain a “qualitative military edge” (QME), and the concept has been formalised in legislation from Congress.

At the Pentagon, Gantz stressed the importance of the US-Israel partnership in the “unstable” Middle East region, and said the relationship goes beyond “QME”.

“As I always said, we have no other United States, nor do you have any other Israel,” he said.