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- Weapons independence: Netanyahu approved NIS 350 billion over the next decade to build an independent Israeli munitions industry to reduce dependence on external suppliers.
- Lessons from war: The move follows two years of multi-front war experiences and restrictions imposed by allies such as the US, UK, and Germany after the October 7 Hamas attack.
- Export demand: Despite restrictions, Netanyahu noted that many countries, including Germany, continue to want to buy Israeli military systems.
- European pressure: European allies’ impatience with Israel’s conduct in Gaza sparked calls for arms embargoes and reignited public debate over dependence on foreign weapons.
- “Super-Sparta” remark: A prior comment about Israel becoming a self-reliant “super-Sparta” caused uproar, prompting Netanyahu to clarify he referred only to defense ministry capabilities.
- Aerial superiority: Netanyahu vowed to prevent Turkey or others from receiving F-35s, framing Israeli aerial supremacy as fundamental to national security.
- F-35 inventory: Israel remains the only Middle Eastern country operating F-35s, currently flying 45 jets with an additional 30 on order and emphasizing skilled pilots.
- Regional dynamics: Turkey, removed from the F-35 program after purchasing Russia’s S-400, now seeks rapid acquisition from European partners and the US, while being a vocal critic of Israel as it faces regional competition.
Israel is working to gain as much independence as possible in its weapons production, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Wednesday, in a development he said was the result of the lessons learned during the past two years of war on multiple fronts.
“I approved, along with the defense minister and finance minister, a sum of NIS 350 billion [$108 billion] over the next decade to build an independent Israeli munitions industry,” Netanyahu said in an address at a graduation ceremony for Israeli Air Force pilots.
The move, he said, stemmed from a desire to “reduce our dependence on all players, including friends,” after allies including the US, UK, and Germany all imposed various restrictions on weapons sales to Israel since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack.
Still, he noted, many countries around the world, including Germany, “want to buy from us more and more systems.”
The premier has long been calling for Israel to develop its own self-reliant military industry, and in January 2024 announced that the government would invest in a “multi-year plan to free Israel from dependence on external purchases.”
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The matter returned to the public eye earlier this year as Jerusalem’s European allies began to grow impatient with Israel’s conduct in Gaza, with some calling for arms embargoes and sanctions.
People march behind a banner reading “Against Genocide Let’s block everything” during a nationwide strike in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza and calling for a halt to arms shipments to Israel, in Rome on September 22, 2025. (Andreas SOLARO / AFP)
In that light, Netanyahu briefly caused an uproar in September when he admitted that Israel was facing increased isolation on the world stage and that, to combat that, it would have to become a more self-reliant “super-Sparta” in the years to come.
The remarks sparked outrage and spooked the markets, forcing him to clarify them in a follow-up press conference the next day, when he insisted that he had been referring only to the defense ministry rather than the overall Israeli economy.
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In his speech on Wednesday, Netanyahu also addressed Israel’s aerial superiority, in what appeared to be a thinly veiled reference to Turkey’s quest to receive F-35 fighter jets from the US.
Israel will “prevent whoever must be prevented from receiving these instruments,” the premier promised, adding that the Jewish state’s “aerial superiority in the Middle East is a cornerstone of our national security.”
Maintaining this, he said, rests on Israel’s skilled pilots and “the best aircraft in the world.”
Israel is currently the only country in the Middle East with F-35s in its arsenal, currently operating 45 of the aircraft with another 30 units on order.
Israeli Air Force F-35I fighter jets depart for strikes in Iran, June 13, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)
During US President Donald Trump’s first term, Washington removed Turkey, a NATO ally, from its flagship F-35 fighter jet program, after Ankara purchased the S-400 surface-to-air missile system from Russia.
But now, anxious to bolster its air power, Turkey has proposed to European partners and the US ways it could swiftly obtain the fighter jets as it seeks to make up ground versus regional rivals such as Israel.
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Turkey is one of the world’s most outspoken critics of Israel, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan often accusing Israel of genocide over the past two years, and praising Hamas.
Further bolstering Israel’s fears, Trump recently announced the sale of F-35s to Saudi Arabia, although US officials and defense experts told Reuters that the jets to be sold to the Saudis will be less advanced than those used by the IDF.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
