International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, 22 July 2010

Despite the souring of relations between Israel and Turkey since the May 31 Mavi Marmara flotilla incident, Israel still plans to honor a contract to send four Heron drone airplanes to Turkey in August in what might be the last big military equipment sale between the two countries.

Turkey needs the drones to fight a growing Kurdish insurgency in the Southeast of the country and despite Turkey recently unveiling its own domestically produced UAV, the Israeli aircraft are acknowledged to be the best available.

In related news, Israeli Air Force officials are preparing to make their final decision about the purchase of a squadron of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter from American defense manufacturer Lockheed Martin. The move would make Israel the first customer for the F-35 outside the block of countries who have directly contributed in developing it and would put it at the front of the line to start receiving the aircraft as early as 2015, before Turkey and other Middle Eastern countries.

The F-35 was among the topics of conversation between IAF chief Maj.-Gen. Ido Nehushtan and his Canadian counterpart, Lt.-Gen. Andre Deschamps, who arrived in Israel on Sunday for his first official visit following last week's announcement that Canada would buy 65 F-35 fighter jets in a deal that will cost over $6.5B.

Canada also uses Israeli built Heron UAVs in Afghanistan. "The relationship between the IAF and the Canadian Air Force are extremely important," Deschamps said. "This was an excellent opportunity to visit here. I learned a lot from you."

Copyright © 2010 International Christian Embassy Jerusalem