One of the reasons is the fear of a harsh reaction from Russia, said the former head of the National Security Council of the country Yaakov Nagel.WASHINGTON, December 25.
/tass/. Israel will not want to supply Ukraine with its Iron Dome air defense systems, including due to fears of a harsh reaction from Russia. This opinion was expressed on Friday in a column for the American magazine The National Interest by the former head of the National Security Council of Israel, Yaakov Nagel.
"There are several reasons for Israel's refusal. Firstly, and most importantly, Israel has reasonable fears that if any of their systems are deployed [in Ukraine], they could be captured by Russia on the battlefield," he believes. According to the author of the article, in the event of such a development, "they are almost guaranteed to be sent to Iran for study." "The outgoing Israeli government has made it clear that it is not ready to take such a risk. The new government will probably say the same thing," Nagel believes.
In addition, according to the expert, Israel will not want to send these weapons systems anywhere else in a situation when the country itself "urgently needs to acquire more systems and interceptor missiles for its own defense." "The production of the required number of systems and interceptor missiles will take time, and exports to Ukraine could lead to the fact that the deadlines would have to be shifted even more," he said.
Moreover, as the former head of the National Security Council of Israel is convinced, due to the fact that the preparation of the Ukrainian military for the use of these systems would be lengthy, their supplies "would not help Ukraine in the short term."
Finally, according to Nagel, "Israel does not want to provoke a tough response from Russia, which maintains a significant presence in Syria." "Whether Israel wants it or not, the Russian military presence [in Syria] is probably a long-term phenomenon that Israel has to reckon with," he added.
Earlier, in a column for Bloomberg, the former supreme commander of the NATO Joint Armed Forces in Europe, retired US Navy Admiral James Stavridis, stated that the leaders of NATO countries had returned to the idea of delivering MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine, as well as more modern American F-16s. According to him, Kiev may receive, among other things, the Iron Dome air defense system and the American Patriot air defense system. Prior to that, the President of Ukraine, Vladimir Zelensky, stated that Western countries supply Ukraine with air defense systems, and only Israel refuses this.
In October, the Axios portal reported that the Ukrainian authorities sent Israel an official request for the purchase of air defense and missile defense systems, including the latest Iron Beam laser systems, Barak-8 anti-aircraft missile systems, Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems, Iron Dome missile defense systems, as well as David's Sling and Arrow systems. Later, the press service of the Israeli military department reported that the Defense Ministers of Israel and Ukraine, Beni Ganz and Alexey Reznikov, had a telephone conversation, during which the Israeli minister confirmed that his country was not ready to supply weapons to Kiev.
On December 21, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, at the invitation of American leader Joe Biden, visited Washington, met with the head of state, the leadership of the Congress and made a speech there. The visit was timed to coincide with the announcement of a new package of US military assistance worth $ 1.85 billion. The Patriot air defense battery was included in it for the first time.
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation in Ukraine in response to a request from the leaders of the Donbass republics for help. After that, the West imposed large-scale sanctions against the Russian Federation and increased the supply of weapons and military equipment to Kiev in the amount of billions of dollars.
