Tel Aviv: Ukraine has transferred samples of Russian and Iranian-origin attack drones and related weapons to Israel for examination. Former Israeli Ambassador to Ukraine, Michael Brodsky confirmed the security collaboration and weapon transfers during a briefing with Ukrainian journalists.
The examined hardware includes models from the Russian Geran family which are based on Iranian-designed Shahed drones, as well as earlier transfers of Iranian Shahed units.
Israel is analysing these platforms to better understand, detect, and counter modern UAV and jet-powered drone technologies that also threaten Israeli security through regional adversaries. Like in the rest of the world, the Israeli defence establishment has been watching the Ukraine situation closely and working hard to figure out what a potential conflict between Moscow and Kyiv, and Washington’s response, might mean for Israel’s interests.
More than many nations, Israel could find itself in an awkward spot. On the one hand, the US is Israel’s biggest ally and longstanding patron. At the same time, Jerusalem had to keep up good relations with Moscow, in order to keep the ability to launch military strikes against Iranian interests in Syria, where Russia has controlled the airspace.
This changed after Syrian president Assad was ousted and a new regime formed in Syria. But until now, Israel has refrained from selling advanced weapon systems to Ukraine. What has affected the situation is the enhanced cooperation between Russia and Iran in UAV production. Some of these UAVs have been used by Iranian proxies against Israel.
No Israeli official source was ready to comment on the first of its kind cooperation between Ukraine and Israel. A defence source was ready to say that this cooperation “is in the interest of both countries”.
The source added that Israel has the best tools to analyse the Russian UAVs , most of them based on Iranian technology.
-The writer is an Israel-based freelance journalist. The views expressed are of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Raksha Anirveda
