Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is the military correspondent for The Times of Israel.
Defense Minister Benny Gantz reiterated on Wednesday that Israel would supply weapons to Ukraine to combat Russia’s eight-month invasion, but said Jerusalem could get an early precautionary formula for the embattled country to warn of nearby attacks, such as the one used in Israel.
Speaking to an organization of European Union ambassadors a day after Ukraine announced it would submit an official request for Israeli air defense systems such as Iron Dome, Gantz announced the sale of such weapons.
“Israel and Ukraine, NATO and the West. This is all we have said in the afterlife and we are repeating it today. It is Israel’s policy toward Ukraine through humanitarian aid and the delivery of important defensive equipment,” Gantz said in remarks provided through his office.
“That said, I would like to emphasize that Israel will not deliver weapons systems to Ukraine due to various operational considerations. We will continue with Ukraine within our boundaries, as we have done in the past,” he said.
“We have sent a request to the Ukrainians to provide percentage data on their air defense alert needs. Once we get this data, we will help expand a civilian early precaution formula that will save lives,” Gantz added.
Israel’s precautionary formula uses a combination of radars and electro-optical devices to stumble upon rocket, missile and drone launches, classify the length and risk they pose, and map spaces that are at risk.
Citizens get warnings through sirens, alerts on their phones, and messages on television and radio.
The formula is credited with saving many lives during years of outbreaks of violence with terror outfits in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, which have smuggled thousands of projectiles into Israeli cities.
In recent years, progress has been made in the accuracy of the formula so that you can restrict your alerts to express spaces of primary cities.
In recent weeks, Ukrainian cities have faced repeated attacks with Iranian-made munitions, also known as suicide drones, and other missiles smuggled through Russia.
“We are following Iran’s participation in the war in Ukraine. We see that Iran is offering drones and may also supply more complex systems in the near future,” Gantz said.
Ukraine said Wednesday that its military had shot down more than 223 Iranian-made drones in more than a month.
Since the early days of the invasion, senior Ukrainian officials have called on Israel to send its missile defense systems, especially Iron Dome, in public speeches and talks with decision-makers in Jerusalem.
But Jerusalem has so far avoided offering direct military aid to Kyiv, neither offensive weapons nor complex defensive generation, since Russian troops invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 in a bid to avoid triggering a crisis with Moscow.
Israel is one of the few countries with warm relations with Ukraine, some other Western democracy and Russia.
But Israel found itself at odds with Russia, as Jerusalem has increasingly subsidized Ukraine while seeking freedom of movement in Syrian skies, which is largely controlled by Moscow.
In April, Gantz first agreed to send 2,000 helmets and 500 emergency bulletproof vests to Ukraine, after long refusing to do so.
The move came in the wake of reports of massacres of civilians, rapes and atrocities committed by Russian forces in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, prompting a change of tone among Israeli politicians.
At the time, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, who is now also a minister, explicitly accused Russia of war crimes because of this information, in the most virulent comments against Moscow through a senior Israeli official.
Ties between Israel and Russia have frayed further after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed that Adolf Hitler had Jewish ancestry, in an attempt to defend Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine as a way to “de-Nazify” a country whose president, Volodymyr Zelensky, is Jewish. .
While Jerusalem has changed its tune to align more with Western powers, it has so far steadfastly refused to contribute to the Ukrainian military’s effort.
On Wednesday, Gantz said he planned to approve another defensive aid program for Ukraine.
Israel also sent about a hundred tons of humanitarian aid, in addition to setting up a cash hospital in western Ukraine for six weeks.
Lazar Berman and contributed to this report.
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