A Ukrainian firefighter tackles a blaze caused by a Russian missile strike on a thermal power plant in Kyiv. Photo: Reuters/State Emergency Service of Ukraine

Speculation in the Ukrainian media that Israel will begin providing weaponry to Kyiv to counterbalance the supply of weaponry from Iran to Russia intensified on Monday following statements made in recent days by Israeli officials.

Several media outlets picked up a report from the Israeli broadcaster Kan News that quoted Eyal Hulata, Israel’s national security adviser, saying that if Iran begins supplying ballistic missiles to the Russians for their ongoing invasion of Ukraine, “Israel will start supplying high-precision missiles to Ukraine.” Hulata reportedly made the comment during a visit to Bahrain, where he addressed a security summit in the capital Manama. According to a Nov. 7 Ukrainian intelligence assessment, Russia has already exhausted 80 percent of its missile arsenal and is turning to the Iranians as a consequence.

In a separate development that was also widely reported in Ukraine, Kan said that Alexander Ben Zvi, Israel’s Ambassador to Moscow, had handed a diplomatic note to Mikhail Bogdanov, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister, formally protesting the supply of Iranian drones to Russia. As Russian forces have experienced major battlefield setbacks in recent weeks, it has bolstered its aerial attacks, using Iranian-made Shahed-136 and Arash-3 drones to devastating effect.

A number of Ukrainian media outlets pointed to reports in the Israeli press earlier this month which claimed that the US had asked Israel to help finance the supply of weapons to Ukrainian armed forces, as well as a statement last month from Josef Zissels, the head of Ukraine’s Jewish Federation, calling on Israel to “take its place on the right and just side of history.”

The debate over whether Israel will match its humanitarian aid operation in Ukraine with military assistance to the democratic government has been given added urgency by the burgeoning alliance between Moscow and Tehran. Earlier this month, CNN quoted unnamed western officials who claimed that Iran was preparing to send approximately 1,000 additional weapons, including surface-to-surface short range ballistic missiles and more attack drones, to Russia.