This proposed sale is a direct threat to Israel. It is for sure that the technology will end up in more terrorists’ hands like Iran, Hezbollah or Houthis. Is this again a bad deal of the “Qatari Man” Witkoff, who can barely be regarded as a friend of Israel?
And the next threat is lurking around the corner: Turkey. Turkey is annexing Syria and is said to be building a massive military airport in the heart of Syria. It seems that Trump is neither stopping Qatar nor Turkey. And in the case of Iran, we just see some threats, but no actions.
Syria and Turkey are negotiating a dangerous deal: transferring control of key territory near Palmyra — once a stronghold for Iranian-backed militias — in exchange for Turkish military and economic support. Turkey is planning to establish an airbase in central Syria to host F-16 fighter jets. If the U.S. greenlights Turkey’s reentry into the F-35 program, the threat intensifies dramatically. This would put a heavily armed NATO-member force, equipped with advanced U.S. technology, deep inside Syria—within striking distance of Israel. Some are calling it a greater threat to Israel than even Iran. (…) If this isn’t addressed now, a direct military clash between Israel and Turkey is inevitable. And the U.S. must wake up to reality: one of their own NATO allies is on a collision course with Israel.
Open Source Intel
The Facts of the Qatar deal, which may threaten the sovereignty of Israel if Israekl does not understand the lesson given by the USA: On March 26, 2025, the U.S. State Department approved a potential Foreign Military Sale (FMS) to Qatar, authorizing the sale of eight MQ-9B Remotely Piloted Aircraft (UAVs) and related equipment for an estimated $1.96 billion.
This bad deal, announced by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), marks a significant step in U.S.-Qatar defense relations and reflects a shift in U.S. arms export policy under the Trump administration, particularly toward Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations.
The proposed package includes:
- Aircraft: Eight MQ-9B SkyGuardian UAVs, a next-generation variant of the MQ-9 Reaper, manufactured by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems. These drones are designed for long-endurance intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions, with a flight endurance exceeding 40 hours, and are capable of precision strikes.
- Munitions:
- 110 AGM-114R2 Hellfire II anti-tank missiles.
- 200 KMU-572 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) kits for converting bombs into precision-guided GBU-38 or GBU-54 munitions.
- 300 BLU-111 500-pound general-purpose bombs.
- 100 kits to convert Mk 82 bombs into GBU-12 Paveway II laser-guided bombs.
- Equipment:
- 10 AN/APY-8 Lynx multi-mode radars for enhanced surveillance.
- Electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) sensors, electronic warfare suites, and secure satellite communications systems.
- Ground control stations, spare parts, and diagnostic tools.
- Support: U.S. technical and logistical support, training, and integration assistance.
- Contractors: General Atomics (lead), Lockheed Martin, RTX Corporation, L3Harris, Boeing, and Leonardo SpA.
The MQ-9B SkyGuardian is notable for its NATO STANAG 4671 compliance, allowing operations in civil airspace, and its open architecture, which supports customizable payloads for ISR, maritime surveillance (SeaGuardian variant), and combat missions.
The estimated $1.96 billion cost is a maximum figure, subject to final negotiations, which could adjust the price downward based on Qatar’s budget and specific contract terms.
The threat of Qatar as the main sponsor of Islamic terrorism, along with Iran and Turkey, is not a fiction, as a recent post of the Defense Minister of Qatar proves. It is all about conquering Jerusalem and annihilating all Jews. Qatar yells: We are all Hamas (Read more background in MEMRI article “Qatari Defense Minister In Past Tweets: ‘We Are All Hamas’; ‘We Must Plan How To Influence The Decision-Makers In The U.S.“)
VonNaftali: What is behind?
What is the strategy, what is the goal of the US administration? It is certainly not about the economic turnover of just around $2 billion. For that, one would neither endanger Israel nor give terrorists access to high-end drone technology. The same applies to Turkey, which now endangers three US allies: Israel, Greece, and the Kurds. Both threat scenarios (Turkey and Qatar) are clearly positioned towards Israel. What does the USA tell Israel? What does the USA want from Israel?
The US does not want to actually endanger Israel, but rather push Israel for a decision and a clear stance. Israel is opportunisticly maneuvering its way through at the US’s expense, and that is not going down well with the US administration.
The US administration is also clearly aware that Israel has a massive trade deficit with the EU (-$12.8 billion/2023), but the US has a considerable trade deficit (-$6.8 billion/2023) with Israel. The EU is Israel’s largest trading partner, followed by China. This is no way to treat the strategic ally USA.
This is an imbalance that Trump certainly doesn’t like, and it was only under pressure from the US that Israel granted US imports the same status as EU imports, under the slogan “What’s good for Europe is good for Israel.”
Israel must be more clearly pro-US and more loyal to the US than to the EU, which is cum grano salis hostile to Israel and the US.
This is perhaps a kind of “nugging” to finally bring Israel to a fact-based pro-US stance, rather than just the proverbial “holiday speeches” of Israeli politicians. And in reality the EU and China take home profits, but not the USA. Utterly wrong. Not good.
If Israel doesn’t treat the US as an ally, real ally, on an economic level, too, Israel will get sooner or later a massive pushback. Israel must behave more clearly and unequivocally pro-US. Just making grand speeches of “Thank You” is simply not enough.
That means, the USA must become #1 trade partner of Israel.
Source of the details: Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA): The official announcement came via a DSCA press release on March 26, 2025, notifying Congress of the sale, as required under U.S. law. The DSCA oversees FMS transactions.