Israel announces purchase of 14 more F-35 fighter jets

Israel is to purchase 14 F-35 stealth fighters from U.S. aerospace giant Lockheed Martin, the defence ministry said Sunday. The $2.82 billion deal, which includes other technological and training elements, was signed at the weekend after being approved by a ministerial committee in November. The deal will see Israeli weapons and aviation systems integrated into the aircraft in a move which will inject tens of millions of shekels into the local economy, the ministry said.

The defence ministry will purchase an additional 14 F-35s for around $3 billion, each plane costing an average of $110 million.

Israeli Defence Ministry

Meanwhile, Israel’s mayor of Jerusalem and his security guard wrestled a Palestinian attacker to the ground near city hall on Sunday after an ultra-Orthodox Jew was stabbed with a knife at a busy intersection. Jerusalem has been the scene of many attacks in recent years. Most recently, late last year tensions rose again over access to a holy site in an Israeli-annexed part of the city where al-Aqsa mosque now stands and Biblical Jewish temples once stood.

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