The air protection system might fall into Iranian arms, PM Benjamin Netanyahu has mentioned
Israel is anxious that if Kiev is supplied with cutting-edge Iron Dome air protection techniques, the weapons may find yourself discovering their strategy to Iran, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mentioned in an interview launched on Thursday.
Chatting with the Wall Road Journal, Netanyahu mentioned that Israel has thus far kept away from becoming a member of Western efforts to arm Kiev as a result of its state of affairs is drastically completely different from that of Ukraine’s different backers.
The prime minister mentioned that Israel wants “freedom of motion” in Syria, a area with a heavy Russian army presence. As well as, Netanyahu famous that if Israeli weapons have been captured on the battlefield in Ukraine, they may ultimately be given to Iran.
“We’re involved… with the likelihood that techniques that we are going to give to Ukraine would fall into Iranian arms and could possibly be reverse-engineered” and used in opposition to Israel, he mentioned.
Netanyahu additionally mentioned that West Jerusalem can’t permit the US to ship Ukraine the Israeli-developed Iron Dome air protection system, which Israel makes use of to fend off missile assaults which it says are launched by Tehran-backed militant teams.
“If that system have been to fall into the arms of Iran, then hundreds of thousands of Israelis can be left defenseless and imperiled,” he said.
On Friday, US Senators Lindsey Graham and Chris Van Hollen mentioned that Israel had blocked the switch of two US-owned Iron Dome techniques to Kiev over “severe issues,” with out elaborating additional.
“We’re not asking Israel to switch its personal Iron Dome techniques that are vital to their very own safety, however merely to permit america to switch our personal batteries to assist the individuals of Ukraine,” the senators wrote.
Whereas Israel has condemned Russia’s army operation in Ukraine, it has not taken half within the Western sanctions on Moscow and has kept away from offering deadly support to Kiev, focusing as a substitute on humanitarian help.
Netanyahu has beforehand expressed issues over the potential spillover of Israeli weapons. Final week, he mentioned that the proliferation of weapons is “not a theoretical chance,” noting that Western anti-tank weapons destined for Ukraine had already discovered their strategy to the Center East.
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