Hey Ken.
Why won't the US pay for ours?
Don't know. This is pure conjecture, but maybe it has to do with technology sharing. The Isreali's will be putting in some very sophisticated technology in the F-35Is that are not in the F-35A thru C. Indeed, the F-35I wing is built in Israel and includes embedded sensor apertures not included in any other F-35. Maybe if you guys developed some cool new tech to put in the F-35 and promise to share it with the US, they'll pay for yours. But who knows?