Incoming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that he would “consider” his request for air-defense systems, the Ukrainian leader told reporters on Wednesday.
“We had a normal, substantive conversation, because the list of subjects was provided by our side,” Zelenksky said, referring to a phone call between the two men following Israel’s national election earlier this month.
“We conveyed all the nuances related to air defense,” he said. “This is the number one priority. He assured me that he would deal with this issue as soon as possible, or think about where he can help, and will return with an answer.”
Zelensky stressed that he did not ask Israel for “weapons that can attack.”
Last month, Zelenksy blamed Israel’s refusal in providing Kyiv with military aid for an emerging Russian-Iranian axis whereby Moscow will assist Iran with its nuclear program in exchange for attack drones.
Ukraine had “immediately secured our skies, Russian would not have a motive to go to Iran and offer something in exchange for assistance in terror,” the Ukrainian president said at the time.
Appearing to change tack days later, Zelenksy lauded a “positive trend” in Ukraine’s ties with Israel after Jerusalem began sharing intelligence about the Iranian-made drones deployed by Russia.
Israel has been cautious about taking sides in the war, and is one of the only western democracies to share strong ties with both Russia and Ukraine. Jerusalem also coordinates all military strikes on Iranian targets in Syria with Moscow.
Kyiv has repeatedly asked Israel for its Iron Dome and newer Iron Beam air defense systems but Jerusalem has said it would only help the war-torn country with a missile alert system, an offer which Kyiv has shunned.
Defense Minister Benny Gantz said earlier this month that Israel could not aid Ukraine beyond humanitarian aid, intelligence sharing and an alarm system, because doing so would threaten its own supply.
“It is clear that even if it decided that we change our policy, it is impossible to empty our supply of air defense systems,” Gantz said. “We are checking every day what can be done and how we can expand our aid, but we must not forget that NATO stands behind Ukraine.”
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Wednesday said that last month, the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, a group of 50 countries and organizations providing Ukraine with military aid, had either supplied Kyiv with critical air defense systems or had “committed to sending them.”
They included several U.S.-produced National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAM), Austin said, which have had a “100% success rate and intercepting Russian missiles” so far.