the Kfir deal has been floating about for 3 or so years to my recollection, it may even pre-date the Spannish F1 deal that had actual Argenine pilots actually flying Spannish F1's in actual Spain - the suggested reason it fell through was that the French refused to grant the Spannish permission to sell them to Argentina.
the cynical might wonder if that was because the French had their own F1's they wanted to unload, or because the French did us a favour. the very cynical might wonder if it was both...
it seems, to me, very unlikely that the Israelis would continue with this merrygoround without being very sure that both the money, and the intent, was available - and i rather doubt this latest press release would have occured if the new government wasn't on board.