The signing of the normalization agreements between Israel, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain — with other states supposedly on the way — offers endless business opportunities for the participating countries, including the United States. One of the emerging deals involves the sale of F-35 stealth fighter jets to the UAE. That deal in return could also generate business opportunities, this time for Israeli companies.

To date, the United States has avoided formalizing this F-35 deal, not least because of Israeli opposition. Israel has its own squadron of stealth fighters, provided by the United States to ensure its longstanding commitment that Israel will maintain a qualitative military advantage in the region.

Rumors about the F-35 deal emerged shortly after the Aug. 13 announcement on the agreement between Israel and the UAE. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office pushed back on these reports. It claimed that Israel has neither consented nor moved on its stance that putting America’s most advanced weapon in the hands of any of its Arab neighbors could significantly alter the region’s power balance. “Israel did not change its consistent positions against the sale to any country in the Middle East of weapons and defense technologies that could tip the balance,” the premier’s office said in a statement Aug. 18. Nevertheless, US President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash have confirmed that the deal is still on the table.

All sides attempted to keep this contradiction in versions on low fire. But according to a Sept. 4 report in The New York Times, Netanyahu had indeed lifted his opposition to the sale in exchange for the normalization accord. The report claimed that this came in tandem with his agreement to stop the annexation of settlements in the West Bank.