The debate on Turkey‘s desire to rejoin the F-35 program has reopened a few days ago, with President Erdogan even saying that, after face-to-face contact with Donald Trump at the NATO summit, technical discussions between Washington and Ankara on the issue have begun.

At the same time, there are already several voices opposing the implementation of this plan. One of them, a senior Israeli official spoke to Breitbart News, stressing that it is necessary for the US Congress to block the sale of the F-35 Lightning to Ankara in order “to prevent a possible offensive move against Israel.”

The F-35, known in the Israeli Air Force as the Adir, is considered the West’s most advanced fighter aircraft and was used extensively by Israel during its 12-day war with Iran. The Israeli official expressed growing concern about the possibility of a military conflict with Turkey, which he said is aiming to “restore the Ottoman Empire”, even with control of Jerusalem.

“If necessary, Israel will move to block Turkish aspirations, but prefers to avoid conflict,” he said. At the same time, he stressed that the sale of the F-35 to Turkey would pose a serious threat to the balance of power in the region and expressed hope that Congress would intervene decisively.

As is well known, Ankara has adopted a highly hostile stance against Israel in recent years. Erdogan has repeatedly compared Benjamin Netanyahu to Hitler and Stalin, and has offered shelter to Hamas leaders.

According to the Israeli official, Turkey has strategic plans to deploy military bases on Syrian soil, using the pretext of countering “Islamic State”, but in reality wants to put pressure on Israel. Although Israel does not want new fronts, he said, it has intervened to block Turkish plans in Syria and says it is ready to do so again.

Last week, the US ambassador to Turkey, Tom Barak, suggested that Congress could approve F-35 sales, despite Ankara being excluded from the program in 2019 due to the purchase of Russian S-400 missiles. According to Barak, the issue is close to being resolved – something the Israeli side is watching with growing suspicion.