ZAGREB, December 29, 2018 – The Defence Ministry will propose to the government not to sign the agreement with the Israeli government on the purchase of 12 F-16 fighter jets should they be modified as requested by the US government, because in that case they would no longer be F-16 Barak aircraft with which Israel won the Croatian tender, Defence Ministry official Davor Tretinjak said in a television interview on Friday evening.
“If the whole equipment is changed, both the Israeli and American, and modified with state-of-the-art American equipment, then it’s no longer the F-16 CD Barak,” Tretinjak told the HTV public television service commenting on the latest media reports that the US was making the sale of the US-made Israeli aircraft conditional on the removal of the Israeli equipment built into them.
In that case, the Defence Ministry would have to propose to the government not to conclude the government to government agreement with Israel and to suspend any further talks, he added.
Asked if that meant that a new tender would be issued, Tretinjak said: “We will see with the government what a Plan B would be and what further steps to take”.
The US news website Axios said on Thursday, citing an unnamed Israeli official, that the sale of US-made Israeli fighter jets to Croatia was practically “dead” after outgoing US Defence Secretary James Mattis refused to soften the US terms for the transfer of the aircraft.
To approve the deal, the US demanded that Israel remove the Israeli systems installed in the F-16s and return the jets to their original condition before transferring them to Croatia. HTV said that Israel should respond to the US demands by January 4.
Tretinjak said that Israel had built its own equipment into the F-16 CD Barak and that these modifications were decisive for its selection. “This plane satisfies our needs,” he said, adding that Croatia and Israel had been given a guarantee from the US approving the sale of such modified aircraft.
In September, the US State Department sent approval to Israel, which in turn forwarded it to Croatia, giving it permission to sell the F-16 CD Barak aircraft, modified with Israeli equipment, to Croatia. “That letter is filed both in Israel and in the Croatian Defence Ministry,” Tretinjak said.
Asked what had changed in the meantime, Tretinjak said he did not know. “We expect this matter to be resolved in the coming days, because so far there has been no mention of replacing the entire equipment of the F-16 Barak with American equipment. In that case it would no longer be a government to government agreement, but several agreements would be required. The Defence Ministry has not been authorised by the Croatian government to conclude such an agreement on the government’s behalf nor would it manipulate others. We would bring into question our own transparency, the transparency of the entire procedure,” he said.
Social Democratic Party (SDP) leader Davor Bernardić said on Friday that Defence Minister Damir Krstičević should make an “honourable and soldierly move” and step down if the purchase of 12 F-16 Barak fighter jets from Israel fell through.
“We should wait and see whether the purchase will go through. If the deal fails, it will be a major international embarrassment for Croatia. I think in that case General Krstičević, who took part in the (1991-1995) Homeland War, will make a responsible, honourable and soldierly move,” Bernardić told reporters during a party gathering in Nedelišće, about 100 kilometres north of Zagreb.
The US news website Axios said on Thursday, citing an unnamed Israeli official, that the sale of US-made Israeli fighter jets to Croatia was practically “dead” after outgoing US Defence Secretary James Mattis refused to soften the US terms for the transfer of the aircraft.
More news on the Croatian army can be found in our Politics section.
