title: Senator Graham open to selling Boeing F-18 to Kuwait, Qatar
text: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the Republican party’s senior foreign policy voices, said on Thursday he would likely support the sale of advanced military equipment including Boeing F-18 fighter jets to Qatar and Kuwait, despite Israel’s concerns. Israel’s government worries that equipment sent to Gulf states could fall into the wrong hands and eventually be used against the Jewish state. “The Israeli argument is that you’ve seen regimes in the neighborhood change pretty quickly. Be careful of introducing new weapons into the region,” Graham told reporters following a trip to the region, citing the situation in Iraq. However, he said he thought it was important for such sales to go ahead despite those concerns, given instability in the region and threats including Islamic State militants. “I say to my Israeli friends, ‘We need partners. Partners without capability are paper partners.’ ... So I’ll probably be in the camp of pushing the increased capability of Gulf Arab states, understanding Israeli’s concern,” Graham said. He acknowledged that there was strong opposition in Congress toward arming some Gulf Arab states. “I don’t know how the votes go right now,” Graham said. Graham is a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the chairman of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that oversees foreign aid. 