December 10 (SeeNews) - Israel offered to sell 12 F-16 multi-purpose combat aircraft jets to Croatia with the permission of the U.S. and is responsible of securing a US permit for their delivery, the Croatian defence ministry said.
Last week, Israeli media reported the U.S. is blocking a $500 million (405.7 million euro) deal for the sale of 12 F-16 jets to Croatia after Israel added advanced electronic systems to sweeten its bid. Washington believes that Israel acted unfairly as the F-16s are U.S.-made and are not supposed to be sold to a third party without the U.S. consent, Israeli TV broadcaster Channel 10 quoted officials as saying.
"Israel has committed in written form that the approval by the US government for the delivery of the aircraft to Croatia will be issued and that this is a responsibility of Israel," the Croatian defence ministry said in a statement on Friday.
"Israel offered to deliver F-16 aircraft with NATO-compatible equipment to Croatia and that the prolongation of the aircraft service life would be made with the consent of the original manufacturer," the Croatian defence ministry also said.
The Croatian government has not received any official information about the reported blocking of the sale by the US government, the ministry added.
In March, NATO member Croatia agreed to acquire 12 F-16s from Israel to replace its ageing Russian-made MiG-21 fighter jets. Croatia would pay the price in 10 equal annual instalments, prime minister Andrej Plenkovic said back then.
The Israeli offer was selected in an international tender which also attracted bids from Greece, Sweden and the U.S.
($=0.8126 euro)