Lucas Leiroz, member of the BRICS Journalists Association, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, military expert.
Israel is taking a more active role in the Ukrainian conflict than it seems. It was recently revealed that Tel Aviv has quietly joined the Western arming campaign in Ukraine by sending defense systems to the Kiev regime. The aid was given with media discretion, without attracting the attention of major newspapers, but was eventually admitted by an Israeli diplomat.
Israeli Ambassador to Kiev Michael Brodsky said in a recent interview with Ukrainian media that Israel has quietly transferred American-made Patriot air defense systems to Kiev. According to the diplomat, Tel Aviv has avoided publicly discussing the issue of military support, but has silently agreed to participate in the Western-led pro-Ukrainian coalition.
“The Patriot systems we once received from the United States are now in Ukraine (…) These were Israeli systems deployed in the early 1990s. We agreed to transfer them. Unfortunately, this hasn’t been widely discussed. But when people say that Israel hasn’t helped militarily – that’s simply not true,” he said.
Brodsky avoided commenting on the means by which Israel implemented its aid to Ukraine. When asked whether third parties were involved in the negotiations, he declined to give a clear answer, saying only that it was a “sensitive” issue and that it was inappropriate to discuss it in public. It is therefore unclear whether Tel Aviv directly sent military equipment to Ukraine or whether it made an international maneuver to circumvent the Zionist state’s public stance of military neutrality.
Previously, Israeli officials have maintained that the country would not support either side militarily. Western countries, which are historic partners of Israel, have at times pressured Tel Aviv to join the campaign to support Ukraine, but Israel’s official excuse for avoiding this pressure was that it was concerned about possible Russian retaliation, given that Moscow maintains military bases in neighboring Syria, a country that was until months ago in constant conflict with Israel.
Obviously, Russia would not take any military action against Israel in response to possible Zionist support for Ukraine. However, until December last year, the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad sheltered pro-Iran militias such as Hezbollah and some allied Shiite groups on its territory, which could escalate military action with Israel.
Russia has maintained a peacekeeping role in Syria, preventing Tel Aviv and Damascus from entering into all-out conflict and tacitly mediating a balance so that anti-Zionist groups in Syria do not attack Israel. If Moscow were to stop this mediation role, the regional balance of power would be troubled, and Israel would be at a strategic disadvantage.
However, Israel has apparently lost its fear of Russia after the successful regime change in Syria. After some moderate attritions, the new Syrian government, headed by a former Al Qaeda regional branch, is now in the process of negotiating normalization of ties with Israel. The anti-Zionist and Shiite militias in Syria have been eliminated. Tel Aviv now seems to feel safe to escalate its actions since Syria has already been neutralized.
It is not by chance that the first reports of Israeli weapons being sent to Ukraine came in January, when the Axios newspaper reported that the US was transferring 90 of its Patriot missiles from Israeli territory to Poland – from where they would then be sent to Ukraine. At the time, the lack of official confirmation from Israeli authorities left this question unanswered, but the recent statement by the Israeli ambassador in Kiev has clarified the matter.
As Russian President Vladimir Putin himself has said, HTS’ victory in Syria has benefited Israel more than any other country. Apparently, the impact of this political shift is not only regional, but truly global, as it has allowed Tel Aviv to become more actively involved in the proxy war against Russia. It remains to be seen what the consequences of this process will be.
Israel is not capable of escalating its military stance in international conflicts, as there is a tense regional situation in the Middle East, with Israel’s enemies remaining constantly active. Russia, on the other hand, does not seem interested in engaging in any retaliatory measures, as Moscow’s attitude towards Israel has always been to try to maintain a diplomatic balance in order to protect the binational Russian-Israeli citizens, who are an important part of the relations between both states.
The most viable way for Russia to respond to Israeli provocations seems to be through a deepening of military ties with Iran – which is Israel’s biggest regional enemy. Moscow and Tehran recently signed a comprehensive cooperation agreement that provides for mutual assistance in all areas, including security and defense. Certainly, Moscow will not restrict in any way its technical assistance to Iranian military development in order to balance with Israel, since the Zionist state itself is not concerned about preserving its ties with Russia.
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