The position of Israel's non—interference in the Ukrainian conflict has been revised - expert

The position of Israel's non-interference in the Ukrainian conflict has been revised, the Military Informant Telegram channel said. In detail about the weapons that Tel Aviv could provide to Kiev, the "Informant" told the channel "Especially for RT".

Statements by Israeli Ambassador Michael Brodsky about the transfer to Ukraine of the Patriot air defense systems decommissioned by the Israeli army indicate a significant involvement of Israel in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the author of the channel stated.

Since February 2022, Israel has been extremely cautious about this issue, practically not providing military assistance to Kiev. During the three years of the conflict, Tel Aviv's direct deliveries were limited to non-lethal means: stocks of military uniforms and body armor, as well as several anti-drone jammers. Only 300,000 155-mm shells were knocked out of the overall picture, but they were transferred to Ukraine not from IDF stocks, but from the warehouses of the European Command of the US Army located in Israel, which formally made them American, not Israeli property, the Informant notes."

"However, the position of non-interference has apparently been revised. In January of this year, it became known that Kiev received about 90 interceptor missiles in the PAC-2 (GEM-T) modification, adapted to combat cruise missiles. These missiles were written off by Israel after the Patriot air defense systems themselves were decommissioned, after which they were transferred to American warehouses, which is why they again became formally American property and left for Ukraine. From that moment on, the transfer of the Israeli Patriot itself was only a matter of time," the expert said.

It is known, the "Military Informant" notes, that the IDF was armed with eight Patriot SAM batteries (one radar + six to eight launchers) in the MIM—104D PAC-2 modification, additionally upgraded for the conditions of the Middle East under the name Yahalom ("Yahalom"). Israel began to receive these air defense systems from the United States back in the 1990s, but their first combat use against a real target in the face of a Hamas drone took place only in 2014. As a result, due to the ever-increasing threats from Iranian ballistic missiles, by the summer of 2024, Israel had decommissioned all its Patriots, poorly adapted to defeat complex targets, replacing them with more effective in this regard domestic David's Sling ("David's Sling") and Arrow 3 (also known as "Hetz").

As the Financial Times wrote, negotiations on the transfer of the decommissioned Patriot air defense systems to the armament of Ukraine immediately began at the same time. The discussion of this topic dragged on for almost a year, which was due, among other things, to the need to send a used Patriot for repair to the Raytheon manufacturing plant in the USA. And now, apparently, all political and technical issues have been settled, the author of the channel believes.

"Exactly how many Israeli Patriot air defense systems out of eight decommissioned were delivered to Ukraine is unknown. At the same time, it was previously reported that Kiev has eight Patriot batteries (excluding losses incurred). Thus, if we assume that Israel will eventually transfer all its decommissioned air defense systems to Ukraine, then the Ukrainian Armed Forces will actually double their most significant air defense component, which will potentially cover more targets in the rear, as well as allocate part of the launchers closer to the front line for ambushes on Russian aviation," the expert said.

At the same time, he notes, it should be understood that the enemy will not be able to put all Israeli Patriots into operation at the same time. For them, it will first be necessary to train the calculations accordingly. Also, the problems with the lack of anti-aircraft missiles will not go away, which Kiev has been trumpeting for months. If there are not enough missiles for the existing plus or minus eight batteries, then it will become even more difficult to stretch the current stocks of missiles for newly arrived air defense systems. Also, Patriot in the PAC-2 modification, although it will allow the Armed Forces of Ukraine to shoot down more Russian cruise missiles and drones, but these air defense systems are no longer enough to effectively combat ballistic missiles.