Iran’s weapons are slowly dragging Israel to Ukraine’s defence
- Russia in the past few weeks has escalated its attacks on Ukraine, using Iranian-made ‘suicide drones’
- Iran’s arch-rival Israel has been reluctant to get more involved in Ukraine to not antagonise Moscow
After months of reluctance, Israel is softening its opposition to providing military aid to Ukraine, as Iran’s deepening support for Russia’s invasion evolves into a threat to Israeli security.
A turning point came late last month, when Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz took a long-requested call from his Ukrainian counterpart Oleksii Reznikov.
Israel committed to help Ukraine develop an early-warning system, similar to one that alerts Israelis to incoming fire from the Gaza Strip.
Gantz also agreed to assess Ukraine’s air-defence alert needs, though Israel is declining to provide Ukraine the means to shoot down incoming drones and missiles.
“These are weapons that we have to be prepared to confront – we are the only country in the world that knows how to do that,” said Yossi Kuperwasser, a former top Israeli military intelligence official. “Ukraine can be a testing ground for our countermeasures.”