Criticizing Saudi Arabia as “an Islamic dictatorship”, Klein stated that the country has no formal relations with Israel, continues to boycott Israeli products, and prohibits Israelis from visiting Saudi Arabia.

The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) on Monday said it “strongly opposes” the US administration’s intention to approve the sale of advanced US F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, citing “risks to US and Israeli security” and a violation of US law.

“ZOA strongly opposes selling powerful F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia. The sale would substantially impair Israel’s qualitative military edge (QME), and involve severe additional risks to U.S. and Israeli security,” ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said in a statement.

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US President Donald Trump confirmed to reporters in the Oval Office earlier on Monday that “We’ll be selling the F-35s,” according to Reuters news agency. His statement comes ahead of Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman’s official visit to the US for talks.

Klein stated that an F-35 fighter jet “can reach Israel in mere minutes,” adding that Saudi Arabia is reportedly seeking forty-eight F-35s, “a larger number than Israel currently has.”

“This massive, dangerous sale is likely to violate the U.S. legal obligation under 22 U.S. Code § 2776(h) to assure Israel’s QME – Israel’s ability to counter and defeat any credible conventional military threat from any individual state or possible coalition of states, or from non-state actors, while sustaining minimal damages and casualties,” he stressed.

Criticism of Saudi Arabia

Criticizing Saudi Arabia as “an Islamic dictatorship”, Klein stated that the country has no formal relations with Israel, continues to boycott Israeli products, and prohibits Israelis from visiting Saudi Arabia. He also slammed Riyadh for making “hostile demands on Israel, including conditioning relations on establishing a terrorist Palestinian Arab State on Israel’s lawful land – which would be an existential threat to Israel.”

He claimed that even if Saudi Arabia joins the Abraham Accords, “this would not overcome the impairment to Israel’s QME.”

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Klein added that Saudi Arabia’s “comprehensive strategic partnership and joint military exercises with China, and rapprochement with Iran – both powerful enemies of the U.S. – heighten the dangers of an F-35 sale to Saudi Arabia.” He also claimed that US technology provided to Saudi Arabia could “fall into the hands” of Pakistan, which he described as “an unstable nuclear-armed radical Muslim state.”

The ZOA leader said US arms provided to Middle Eastern nations “with the best of intentions have too often ended up being turned against U.S. forces and our allies,” citing “the huge U.S. agreement in 2017 to sell $350 billion of sophisticated military equipment to Saudi Arabia.”

Klein stressed that the proposed F-35 fighter jet sale “is not worth the extreme risks it entails.”

MBS Arrives in US

The Saudi Crown Prince arrived in the US on Tuesday for talks with Trump. The official three-day visit marks his first trip to the country in seven years – specifically, since Trump’s first term, the Anadolu news agency reported.

A royal court statement said the prince will hold talks with Trump on ways to boost bilateral relations across multiple fields, and will also include discussions of issues of shared concern, according to Anadolu.

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The visit is expected to include the signing of economic and defense agreements, as well as discussions of Middle East issues, including prospects for normalizing relations with Israel.

The visit coincides with the adoption of a US-drafted resolution at the UN Security Council on Trump’s plan for the Gaza Strip, which several countries, including Saudi Arabia, have expressed support for, amid criticism from Russia and China.

Rejection of UN Resolution

Palestinian Resistance movements Hamas, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) have rejected the resolution.

The resolution establishes a transitional Board of Peace and authorizes an International Stabilization Force (ISF) to oversee governance, reconstruction, and security efforts in the Gaza Strip.

Resolution 2803 (2025) passed with 13 votes in favor, while Russia and China abstained. It authorizes the ISF and the Board of Peace until December 31, 2027.

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Hamas reportedly said in a statement that “The resolution imposes an international guardianship mechanism on the Gaza Strip, which our people and their factions reject.”

“Assigning the international force with tasks and roles inside the Gaza Strip, including disarming the resistance, strips it of its neutrality and turns it into a party to the conflict in favor of the occupation,” the movement added.

The PFLP said it “rejects” the resolution on Gaza, and views the decision “as imposing new tutelage via a ‘Peace Council,’ noting it links the withdrawal of the occupation and the cessation of the war to the occupation’s own conditions.”

The group emphasized that “any arrangements ignoring the national will or granting authority to Israel are non-binding” and condemned “clauses related to the disarmament of the resistance.”

The PIJ also said it “rejects” the resolution, saying “it imposes international tutelage and attempts to separate the Strip from other Palestinian lands.”

“PIJ asserts that the resolution criminalizes the right to resistance, which is guaranteed by international law, and ignores accountability for war criminals of the occupation,” a statement noted. The movement warned that “any international force tasked with disarming the resistance would become a partner in implementing the occupation’s agenda.”

(PC, Anadolu)