| Update from the Times of Israel at 1:10 p.m. ET: |
The sources told Axios that Ukraine asked the US to pass on the Patriot interceptors to it after Israel announced that it was decommissioning the air defense system, though Israel had dragged its feet at first for fear of retaliation from Russia.
One of the sources, a Ukrainian official, was cited as saying that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dodged Ukrainian calls on the issue for weeks and only agreed to discuss it after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky refused to take calls from him on the issue of ultra-Orthodox Israelis making their annual Rosh Hashanah pilgrimage to Uman.
Spokespeople for Netanyahu denied that there was any connection between Israel agreeing to the transfer of the interceptors and Uman. They also confirmed to Axios that Israel returned a Patriot system to the US but said they didn’t know if it was then delivered to Ukraine.
Another source, an Israeli official, was quoted as saying that Israel had notified Russia of the interceptors’ transfer back to the US, while emphasizing that the Jewish state was "only returning the Patriot system to the US."
The Pentagon and the US European Command declined Axios’s request for comment.
Throughout the war in Ukraine, Israel has consistently condemned Russia’s invasion, but only provided limited support to Ukraine, including humanitarian aid
and an aerial warning system — not weaponry, despite repeated pleas from Kyiv.Overall, Israel produced a relatively restrained response to the invasion due to Russia’s widespread military presence in Syria, Israel’s northern neighbor, and the need to balance security interests at home and policy abroad while maintaining relations with both Moscow and Kyiv.
The Israeli Air Force began fazing out the use of the Patriot system last year in favor of more advanced Israeli-made air defenses.
As the Patriot, which was known in Israel as "Yahalom" (diamond), was retired for good, its staff was retrained to work with the Iron Dome instead and the remaining batteries and interceptors have since been put in storage.
The US-made system officially entered Israeli service in 1991 but only made its first interception in 2014, downing a Hamas
..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...drone launched from the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about
oppressionand
disproportionate response...
Strip.
Over the following decade, the system, designed to shoot down aircraft, intercepted only some 10 targets, according to the military, including Syrian fighter jets that breached Israeli airspace in 2014 and 2018.
Related:
Patriot air defense 12/24/2024 Ukrainian Perspective: Invasion of Ukraine: December 23, 2024
Patriot air defense 12/24/2024 Germany has announced a new military aid package for Ukraine
Patriot air defense 12/19/2024 Ukrainian Perspective: Invasion of Ukraine: December 18, 2024
Patriot air defense 12/24/2024 Ukrainian Perspective: Invasion of Ukraine: December 23, 2024
Patriot air defense 12/24/2024 Germany has announced a new military aid package for Ukraine
Patriot air defense 12/19/2024 Ukrainian Perspective: Invasion of Ukraine: December 18, 2024