Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz speaks to EU ambassadors in Israel on Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2022. Credit: Ariel Hermoni/MOD

Israel’s Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Wednesday reiterated that the country will not be able to send weapons to Ukraine to help fend off Iranian-made drones and missiles sent by the Russian aggressor, but has offered to supply an early-warning air defense alert system to protect citizens from incoming rockets.

“Israel supports and stands with Ukraine, NATO and the West – this is something we have said in the past and repeat today,” Gantz told a group of EU member-state ambassadors in Israel. “Israel has a policy of supporting Ukraine via humanitarian aid, and the delivery of life-saving defensive equipment.”

“This being said, I would like to emphasize that Israel will not deliver weapon systems to Ukraine due to a variety of operational considerations,” Gantz emphasized.

Gantz reiterated Israel’s position following repeated calls by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to send Kyiv anti-missile systems, such as the Iron Dome defense system, and amid reports that Iran plans to send Russia surface-to-surface missiles to help build up its dwindling arsenal to strike Ukrainian cities and military positions.

Kyiv is expected to make an official request for Israel to immediately supply air defense systems, according to Ukraine’s foreign minister.  Gantz is expected to conduct a call Thursday with the Ukrainian Minister of Defense Oleksii Reznikov

Over the past week, Russia has launched more than a hundred Iranian kamikaze drones directed at residential buildings, power stations, sewage treatment plants, bridges and playgrounds in a number of Ukrainian cities, according to Ukraine’s foreign ministry.

On Sunday, Israel’s Diaspora Affairs Minister Nachman Shai urged the Israeli government to provide military aid to Ukraine in response to the threat that Iran would supply Russia with ballistic missiles.

“The Iranians lie methodically about selling this equipment,” Gantz asserted. “This kind of [Iranian] involvement also takes place in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, and additional places and this continues.”

While Israel has condemned Russian attacks against Ukraine and is said to  share “basic intelligence” with Kyiv about Moscow’s use of Iranian-made Shahed “suicide” drones, it has declined to provide military aid to the war-torn country limiting its assistance to humanitarian aid.

Israel seeks to avoid jeopardizing its ability to conduct operations in Syria’s skies against Iranian targets, which depend on coordination with Moscow. Earlier this week, Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of the Russian Security Council and a former Russian president, warned Israel that providing weapons to Kyiv would put relations between the two countries at risk.

Gantz also shared with EU ambassadors in Israel that he plans to review and okay an additional aid package to Ukraine.

“We will continue to support Ukraine within our limitations, as we have done in the past,” Gantz said. “We have asked the Ukrainians to share information regarding their needs, and offered to assist in developing a life-saving civilian early-warning system for air defense alerts.”