Netanyahu gives two reasons why Israel is afraid to provide weapons to Ukraine
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel fears providing weapons to Ukraine because they could fall into the hands of the Russians and then Iran.
Source: Netanyahu in an interview with The Jerusalem Post
Quote: "I think Israel is in a peculiar situation, different from say, Poland or Germany or France or any of the Western countries that are assisting Ukraine.
First of all, we have a close military border with Russia. Our pilots are flying right next to Russian pilots over the skies of Syria. And I think it’s important that we maintain our freedom of action against Iran’s attempts to place itself militarily on our northern border.
Second, we also have concerns that any systems that we give to Ukraine would be used against us because they could fall into Iranian hands and be used against us. And by the way, that’s not a theoretical possibility. It actually happened with the Western anti-tank weapons that we now find at our borders. So we have to be very careful here."
Details: Netanyahu called Israel's approach to helping Ukraine "balanced" and believes it is correct. According to him, Western heads of state "understand that Israel is in a different situation from any of them".
Background:
- Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Israel has been providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine, but the Israeli government has been heavily criticised for refusing to send weapons to Ukraine.
- In February 2023, the Times of Israel wrote that Netanyahu, during a meeting with the French president, said he was ready to send "military things" to Ukraine but was not ready to go too far so as not to provoke Russia.
- Netanyahu also stated that he was considering providing Ukraine with military assistance, including the Israeli Iron Dome air defence system.
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