That they do! Not blaming them either - their home grown avionics are at least as good (if not far better) than the fitted systems, especially since most exports are deliberately degraded in performance for a "just in case" scenario.
Their F-35I is going to be hot.Israel will be first international customer to the F-35. Look at the options they are including:
New Opportunities for Israeli Systems
The airframe, subsystems and components for the current models of the F-35 – the land based F-35A, Carrier model F-35C and Short TakeOff Vertical Landing (STOL) F-35B are all contracted, but some of the weapons systems are yet to be decided, and open future opportunities for the Israelis. Among these are the air/air missiles – the types currently considered for the F-35 are the U.S. made AIM-9X, and AMRAAM, and European ASRAAM and Meteor. The Israelis could opt for the Stunner missile (Python 6) under development under a joint venture between Rafael and Raytheon.
The Stunner will provide a common missile that could replace both AIM-9X and AMRAAM with a single missile. The missile is currently in development a surface-to-air missile, due for first deployment in 2013. Its specifications have already been set to enable carriage and operation by the F-35. Another weapon considered for the aircraft is the Spice guided weapon. These weapons will be instrumental for the stealth fighter's 'first day' missions, where the networked-stealth fighters are expected to be penetrate and destroy enemy air defenses, paving the way for other strike fighters in their missions against airfields, air defenses, and enemy fighters, to achieve air supremacy. Currently RAFAEL is offering a 2,000 lb and 1,000 lb versions of the Spice, all these weapons can be fitted within the F-35's internal weapons bay. The 500 lb version of the Spice, currently in development, could introduce multiple weapon carriage capability for the F-35, along with a full load of air-to-air missiles.
Communications systems will introduce another opportunity for the Israeli industry. To integrate within the Israeli command and control system the F-35I will have to carry suitable datalinks, satellite communications terminals and air to ground radios, to ensure integration with the IAF network centric system. The IAF may have to settle with the baseline systems, designed to maintain the aircraft low-observability. Yet the integration of local protocols and waveforms is mandatory for the long run, either on individual aircraft or over manned or unmanned support systems which could also offer interesting solutions for air forces facing the same challenge.
Another opportunity for the F-35 community is the employment of a new escort jammer developed by Israel. Israeli EW systems are often offered with full access to the Electronic Warfare techniques generator, while U.S. jammers often rely on highly classified operating modes restricting the export of such systems. If the Israeli stand-off jammer can be adapted to the F-35 stealth platform, it could provide an important capability that could be highly attractive for many F-35 users. The standoff 'escort' jammer is under development as part of collaboration between IAI/Elta and Rafael could, could be adapted for the F-35, it could offer an attractive capability which is currently unavailable for export.