Israel Refuses to Give Ukraine Weapons, but Will Help Build Missile Warning System

Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Wednesday said Israel would not provide weapons to Ukraine, but would help the wartorn country build a civilian warning system against aerial threats.

His comments come a day after Ukrain said it would formally ask Israel to supply it with air defense systems like the Iron Dome.

“Israel is maintaining a policy of supporting Ukraine through humanitarian support, and supplying life-saving systems and defensive equipment,” Gantz told ambassadors from EU nations.

“Israel will not transfer weapon systems to Ukraine due to a variety of operational considerations,” he went on.

“We will continue to support Ukraine within our limitations, as we have done so far,” he said.

He continued by saying Israel had asked Ukraine for “data that would allow us to assist in the construction and supply of a smart alert system like there is in Israel against aerial and other threats.”

“Such a system will have advantages both in saving civilian lives and in targeting alerts and alarms to the relevant areas,” he said.

Israel’s alarm system detects incoming projectiles using radars and electrooptic lasers. Once a threat has been detected, civilians are alerted either by app, sirens, or in the media.

A day earlier, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuleba chided Israel for not “openly siding” with Kyiv.

“If Israel’s policy is really to consistently counter Iran’s destructive actions, then it is time for Israel to openly side with Ukraine,” Kuleba said.

Lapid is slated to meet with Kuleba this week to discuss aid to Kyiv.

According to Ukrainain reports, more than 70 people have died in the past week from Russia’s assault on cities over the past week using Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones and other missiles.  The U.S. has deemed Russia’s actions as war crimes.

Earlier this week, former Russian president and Putin ally Dmitry Medvedev warned Israel any weapon sales to Ukraine would “destroy” relations between Jerusalem and Moscow.

Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday issued a rare praise of the current Lapid-led government’s approach to the Ukraine-Russia war, saying its policy of neutrality was “prudent.”

The former Israeli premier told MSNBC weapons provided to Ukraine could end up in Iran’s hands.

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

“In the Golan Heights, where we’re trying to prevent Iran from creating a second Lebanon front, a second terrorist front against us, we encounter Israeli made weapons.”