The United States is blocking Israel’s sale of aging F-16 fighter jets to Croatia, a member of the American-led NATO security alliance

The deal, which was announced earlier this year, would see Israel sell a dozen US-manufactured F-16s from its fleet to Croatia for $500 million.

Quoting unnamed Israeli officials, Channel 10 news reported the Trump administration was angry Israel added advanced Israeli-made electronic systems to the F-16s as part of efforts to convince Croatia to buy the planes.

The officials told the network the US believes Israel unfairly profited through its actions, as the F16s are American-made and were not supposed to be sold to a third-party without its approval.

The report also quoted the officials saying Croatia is furious about the holdup of the sale and recently told Israel to work out the matter with the US. The officials said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu raised the sale during his meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Brussels on Monday.

“I’m in favor but Defense Secretary Mattis is against [the sale] — its him who is blocking it,” Channel 10 quotes Pompeo saying.

Netanyahu and his Croatian counterpart announced the agreement in January and Croatia’s top defense body gave its OK two months later.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-blocking-israeli-sale-of-used-f-16s-to-croatia-report/