Ankara-DC Menacing Deal: Weapons for Jihad

No one is talking about it, but Washington and Ankara are quietly getting cozy again—and they are doing it while Turkey openly embraces Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. For Israel, this is not just bad optics, it is dangerous.

After being kicked out of the F-35 program for buying Russia’s S-400 air defense system, Turkey was supposed to be punished. Instead, Washington is now fast-tracking F-16 Block-70 sales and upgrades to Ankara, while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is already signaling his interest in adding the American Patriot system to the mix. This is not isolation; it is a reset.

Why the thaw? NATO arithmetic. Turkey finally ratified Sweden’s entry into the alliance, and the payoff was immediate. Washington wants Turkey inside the tent no matter how much Hamas cash flows through Istanbul.

But the bigger secret is this: Turkey hosts American nuclear weapons at Incirlik Air Base. For decades, those warheads have been the insurance policy that keeps Ankara untouchable. No one in Washington dares talk about it, but it is why Turkey is treated as indispensable, even when it plays footsie with Moscow and Hamas.

And make no mistake—Ankara is not hiding its loyalties. Erdoğan has rolled out the red carpet for Hamas leadership, posing for cameras while denouncing Israel. He blasts the Jewish State in every speech, then cashes in NATO chips with Washington the next day. The message is clear: you can host terrorists on Saturday and still sign weapons deals with the Americans on Monday.

For Israel, this is not “strategic diplomacy.” It is a betrayal. A U.S.–Turkey reset risks laundering Erdoğan’s Hamas ties under the cover of NATO. Washington tells itself that keeping Turkey close will moderate it, but the evidence screams the opposite. Erdoğan pockets the jets, the nukes, the leverage—and Hamas gets legitimacy from a NATO capital.

Israel cannot stay silent.

If America wants to flood Ankara with fighter jets and missiles, it must come with red lines: no sanctuary for Hamas, no Brotherhood platforms, no vetoes over Israeli self-defense.

In the meantime, and while Turkey and Egypt will be carrying out joint naval exercises in the coming days to threaten the Jewish State, Jerusalem has to stay strong and continue deterring Ankara by providing Cyprus with ‘Barak MX’ integrated air defense systems and keep reminding one of the hosts of the ‘October 7th butchers’ that we are also on guard in this geopolitical game.

Until Turkey chooses between NATO and Hamas, any “rapprochement” is a deal with the devil.