(JTA) — The United States is blocking a $500 million deal Israel made to sell fighter jets to Croatia because it wants the deal.
Israel arranged to sell Croatia a dozen F-16 jets that were manufactured in the U.S., but upgraded and refurbished in Israel, according to Axios. Last month, eight months after the agreement, the Trump administration blocked the deal. As they are American jets, the U.S. must sign off on the sale — and it won’t because of its interest in selling to Croatia.
The spat is a rare sour point in the usual close relations between the Trump and Netanyahu governments.
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