President Donald Trump’s latest NATO summit announcement added a new point of friction to U.S. policy in the Middle East and the alliance’s internal politics. At the center of it is Israel’s unusually public opposition to Trump’s July 7 statement in Ankara that the United States would lift sanctions on Turkey and weigh a path back to F-35 fighter jet sales.
Trump’s NATO announcement reopened a dispute frozen since 2020
Trump said on July 7, as he met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during the NATO summit in Ankara, that Washington would lift sanctions imposed on Turkey in 2020 over its purchase of the Russian S-400 air defense system, according to Reuters. He also said he would make a decision on a potential sale of F-35 fighter jets to Ankara, reopening an issue that had been largely frozen since Turkey’s removal from the program.
The sanctions were imposed under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, or CAATSA, after the United States concluded that Turkey’s possession of the S-400 created unacceptable security risks for advanced U.S. aircraft, including the F-35. Reuters and AP both reported that Trump framed the move as part of a broader effort to improve ties with Turkey, a NATO ally that has pressed for renewed access to the fighter program.
Turkey has sought both the lifting of sanctions and movement on the F-35 issue for years. Defense News reported that Trump’s remarks marked the clearest signal yet from the White House that Ankara could regain access to major U.S. defense cooperation despite longstanding objections in Congress and among regional partners.
Israel’s response was not limited to private diplomacy. Before and during the summit, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly urged Trump not to proceed with F-35 sales to Turkey, saying the move would put Israel in danger, according to AP. In separate public remarks carried by AP and other outlets, Netanyahu said such a sale would upset the power balance in the Middle East and weaken the Israeli air superiority that Jerusalem sees as central to its security.
That reaction gave the dispute an immediate regional dimension, even though the NATO summit itself was held in Turkey and not in Israel. What is confirmed is that Israel objected openly and at the highest level. What is not yet known is whether the Trump administration has begun a formal notification process to Congress, whether any specific number of aircraft is under consideration, or whether Ankara would first have to resolve the S-400 issue before any sale could move forward.
Turkey, for its part, pushed back against Israel’s criticism. Reports published on July 7 said Turkish officials accused Israel of spreading disinformation about Ankara’s intentions, underscoring how quickly Trump’s comments turned a NATO-stage announcement into a wider geopolitical argument.
The immediate cause of the dispute is Turkey’s long-running effort to reverse the consequences of its 2019 purchase of the Russian S-400 system. That acquisition led to U.S. sanctions in 2020 and Turkey’s expulsion from the F-35 program, according to Reuters. Trump’s comments suggest his administration is now willing to reconsider at least part of that policy, even though the underlying security concerns that drove the original decision have not publicly been declared resolved.
For Israel, the issue is less about NATO burden-sharing than about military balance. Netanyahu said publicly that giving Turkey access to F-35s or even fighter-jet engines would alter the regional balance and create new risks for Israel. Axios also reported before the summit that Netanyahu had complained to Trump about Erdogan’s anti-Israel rhetoric, indicating that the aircraft debate is tied to a much wider deterioration in Israeli-Turkish relations.
For U.S. allies and residents watching the issue from Washington outward, the next step is likely procedural rather than immediate. Trump said he would consider the sale, but no final decision and no delivery timeline have been publicly confirmed. That means the practical outcome remains unsettled, even as the political rupture between Israel and the White House over Turkey’s role has already become public.