In the midst of the ‘tanks to Ukraine’ parade being announced in Berlin and Washington, it also emerged yesterday that the US is pressuring Israel to transfer its old HAWK anti-aircraft batteries to Ukraine. Israel has ten batteries of HAWKs, along with hundreds of missiles for them, which it retired a decade ago and has kept in storage.
According to Axios, a senior Israeli official reported that the head of the policy department in the Israeli Defense Ministry, Dror Shalom, told his U.S. counterparts that there is no change in Israel’s policy, which is not to provide weapons systems to Ukraine. The Israeli Defense Ministry reiterated to Axios in a statement that the “position of the Israel security establishment [on giving military aid to Ukraine] hasn’t changed. Every request is being reviewed on a case-by-case basis.”
