A few days ago, US President Joe Biden said during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi at the White House that Washington would send Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine. A report published by The National Interest said Biden's decision "draws attention to Israel," which has refused to provide Ukraine with its Iron Dome system, which intercepts missiles and UAVs, despite Ukraine's official requests.
As for Israel's reasons for opting out, the news site said the first and most important is that “Israel has legitimate concerns that if any of its systems are deployed, they will be captured by Russia on the battlefield. From there, they are almost guaranteed to be sent to Iran for analysis."
The National Interest explained that the analysis could allow Iran to find ways to counter these systems in future clashes between Iran's allies and Israel, such as Hezbollah, Hamas or the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
The second reason Israel is refusing to supply Ukraine with Iron Dome, according to the National Interest, is that the country "has already assessed the dire need to acquire more systems and interceptors for its own defense" in light of Hezbollah and the continued growth of its weapons arsenals Hamas.
"Thirdly, the amount of time required to train Ukrainian forces to operate the Iron Bath will not help Ukraine in the short term. One can understand why Ukraine wants this system given its success. However, Patriot is likely to be an easier system for training Ukrainian forces," The National Interest noted.
In the same context, the report emphasizes that the US decision to send the Patriot to Ukraine "is associated with the same risks as in Israel."
According to the National Interest, "captured US systems could be used by both Russia and Iran, which would weaken their effectiveness on the battlefield," noting that "some US systems have reportedly already been captured by the Russians in Ukraine and sent to Iran." .
