According to reports in Israeli media, Israeli and Croatian prime ministers discussed the deal yesterday at Davos.
According to a report by Israel’s Globes on January 26, 2018, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković agreed to push forward the deal to sell Israeli used F-16 to Croatia.
The media reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has completed his latest rounds of meetings in Davos and is flying back to Israel. Last night, he had a working meeting with Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and they agreed to push forward with the sale of Israel Air Force F-16 fighter jets to Croatia.
The website notes that Israel and Croatia have had diplomatic relations for more than 20 years but so far trade relations have only focused on mutual tourism and some R&D projects in the chemicals, optical and other sectors.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said that the sale of the F-16 jets will be within the framework of a tender. “This development is another expression of the deep ties between our two countries,” the PMO said, reports Globes.
Sources close to the deal told “Globes” that the second hand F-16s will be worth about 500 million dollars, subject to the terms of the tender.
The Israeli F-16s and Swedish Gripens are the favourites for the tender which the Croatian government announced several months ago to buy new fighter jets for the Croatian Air Force, which has been using old Soviet-produced MiG-21s.
