Israel rejects Ukraine’s request for military aid after Russia’s threat

Israel has refused to send arms to Ukraine throughout the war, due in part to unease about Russia’s military presence in neighboring Syria, where Russian and Iranian forces have partnered to prop up Syrian dictator Bashar Assad’s regime. Yet the extension of that cooperation between Moscow and Tehran into the war in Ukraine spurred some hope in Kyiv that Israel’s defense industry would equip Ukraine to blunt the Iranian-enabled air raids.

“Iran is our mutual enemy,” Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel Yevgen Korniychuk told local media. “But Israel is providing only very limited intelligence cooperation.”

IRAN IN FOCUS AS RUSSIAN DRONE STRIKES ENDANGER WESTERN DIPLOMATS IN UKRAINE

Iranian-made surveillance and attack drones have played a key role in a wave of recent attacks in Kyiv and other cities throughout Ukraine, designed with the apparent goal of destroying Ukraine’s energy infrastructure as winter approaches. Ukrainian officials claim they have downed 223 of the Iranian-made drones, but more intense attacks loom on the horizon, given Tehran’s reported decision to send short-range ballistic missiles to Russia.

“Certainly, given what has been happening in recent days, one of our main priorities is to create protection for our cities, civil infrastructure, and create an air shield for Ukraine,” Ukrainian presidential office head Andriy Yermak said Wednesday, following a meeting with diplomats from several European states. “And I am very glad that today it is no longer a matter for discussion, but only a matter of time. And this should be done as soon as possible.”

Ukrainian officials made no secret of their appeal to Jerusalem. “Definitely, I can confirm that. That was a request from Ukraine armed forces,” former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko told CNN this week. “We know that Israel has a special technology, how to fight with the Iranian drones. This technology can save the lives of hundreds of Ukrainians.”

Israel has tried to strike a balance between aligning with the United States, Israel’s most important ally, and avoiding a confrontation with Russia. The use of Iranian weapons to attack civilian targets called that posture into question — “there is no longer any doubt where Israel should stand in this bloody conflict,” as Israeli Diaspora Minister Nachman Shai wrote Sunday on Twitter — but Moscow was quick to respond with a threat.

“That would be a very rash decision, for it would damage all the interstate relations between our countries,” Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev, a former president of Russia, said Monday.

Israeli opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, the longtime prime minister seeking a return to power in November’s elections, endorsed the government’s refusal to arm Ukraine. He framed the decision as a way of ensuring that the armaments do not fall into “Iranian hands” as a result of their insertion into Ukraine.

“On the question of weapons, there’s always a possibility — and this has happened time and again — that weapons we supplied in one battlefield end up in Iranian hands used against us,” Netanyahu told MSNBC.

Gantz, the defense minister, touted the provision of “humanitarian aid, and the delivery of life-saving defensive equipment” as proof of Israel’s support for Ukraine.

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“We have sent a request to the Ukrainians to share information about their needs for air defense alerts. Once we gain this information, we will be able to assist in the development of a life-saving civilian early-warning system,” Gantz told reporters. “We are following Iran’s involvement in the war in Ukraine. We see that Iran provides UAVs and in the near future may also provide additional advanced systems.”