The National Interest: Will 'Israel' risk sending Iron Dome to Kiev?

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A couple of days ago, US President Joe Biden announced during his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House that Washington will send Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine.

A report published by The National Interest considered that Biden's decision "puts a spotlight on Israel," which refused to provide Ukraine with its Iron Dome system that intercepts rockets, missiles, and UAVs despite official requests from Ukraine.

Regarding the reasons for "Israel's" refusal, the news website said the first and most important is that "Israel harbors legitimate fears that if any of its systems were to be deployed, they would be captured by Russia on the battlefield. From there, they are all but guaranteed to be sent to Iran for analysis."

The National Interest explained that the analysis could allow Iran to find ways to counter these systems in future confrontations between Iran's allies such as Hezbollah, Hamas, or Palestinian Islamic Jihad against the Israeli occupation.

The second reason for "Israel" to refuse to supply Ukraine with the Iron Dome, according to the news website, is because the Israeli occupation "have already assessed an urgent need to acquire more systems and interceptors for its own protection" in light of Hezbollah and Hamas’ weapons arsenals' continuous growth.

"Third, the amount of time required to train Ukrainian forces to operate the Iron Dome would not help Ukraine in the short term. One can understand why Ukraine wants the system, given its success rate. However, the Patriot would likely be an easier system to train Ukrainian forces," The National Interest indicated.

Read more: DoD could start training Ukrainians on Patriot on US soil: Politico

In the same context, the report pointed out that the US decision to send Patriots to Ukraine "runs the same risks as they would to Israel."

According to the news website, "Captured American systems could be exploited by both Russia and Iran, thereby weakening their efficacy on the battlefield," noting that "some American systems have reportedly already been captured by the Russians in Ukraine and forwarded to Iran."

Israeli newspaper Haaretz had previously reported that the Israeli security and military establishment strongly oppose sending combat weapons to Ukraine, including security systems.

The Israeli newspaper said the security and military establishment fears that supplying Ukraine with these systems will lead to the downing of Russian planes and the killing of pilots, which will push Russian President Vladimir Putin to blame "Israel". 

Israeli security sources also claimed that the Iron Dome does not suit Ukraine due to its huge size, which makes it difficult to move, adding that the Russians who control Ukrainian airspace will not find it difficult to hit convoys that will transport the Iron Dome.

It is noteworthy that in mid-October, the senior advisor to the Ukrainian President, Mikhail Podolyak, slammed the Israeli decision not to supply Ukraine with air security systems, according to Israeli media. 

Podolyak expressed Ukraine's disappointment in the Israeli decision as he told reporters that "Israel chose to be on the wrong side of history."

On October 17, the Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev warned "Israel" against providing weapons to Ukraine, stressing that any move to boost Kiev's arsenal will severely damage bilateral relations.

Read more: 'Israel' provides Ukraine with intel on Iranian drones, not Iron Dome