Yesterday, it was reported that, as part of military cooperation talks, Saudi Arabia expressed its willingness to purchase 100 Turkish-made TF Kaan stealth aircraft. If the deal goes through, it will have far-reaching political, economic, and military implications that Israel should be aware of.
On the political level, Saudi Arabia is signaling to the US that it is preparing alternatives if the sale of 35 US-made stealth aircraft is not approved and if a defense agreement is not signed with it. Furthermore, it appears that such a deal would strengthen military cooperation in the "Sunni axis" that is now retaking control of Syria and will try to increase its influence in Lebanon after Hezbollah's weakening.
From an economic perspective, if such a deal were to materialize, it would inject billions of dollars into Turkey from Saudi Arabia, and it would also lead to lower production costs for each aircraft and may attract more customers in the region and beyond, and ultimately more revenue for Turkey.
NEWSRAEL: Our assessment regarding this news item is that the Saudis are using Turkey to pressure the US into selling them the F35.