Kyiv is interested in buying Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system, Ukrainian Ambassador to Tel Aviv Yevhen Korniychuk said.

“I want the Israeli authorities to step out of their comfort zone and get back to reality.

We need Israeli help ... I mean, we need military technical support, we need the Iron Dome, the Jerusalem Post quoted the diplomat as saying. 

At the same time, the ambassador added that he did not want to call the specified missile defense system a weapon, and stressed that Kyiv intended to buy the Iron Dome.

“I call it a means of protection that will help save our civilian population.

You can’t kill with it,” said Korniychuk.

“We don’t need charity, we want to buy it.”

The diplomat also complained that the topic of the conflict in Ukraine "almost completely disappeared from the Israeli media."

  • Iron Dome system in the Golan Heights

  • Legion Media

  • © Ilia Yefimovich/Dpa

Recall that the "Iron Dome" is a tactical missile defense system developed in Israel to combat short-range unguided missiles.

It can destroy ballistic targets within a radius of up to 40 km, and the maximum range of its anti-missiles is up to 70 km.

One battery of the "Iron Dome" consists of three launchers with 20 interceptor missiles, a control center and a radar station.

Requests and demands

The Kyiv regime repeatedly appealed to Tel Aviv with a request to transfer these missile defense systems to it, but the Israeli side consistently refused Ukraine.

According to media reports, back in 2021, Kyiv called on the United States, which is involved in the production of missiles for the Iron Dome, to transfer complexes to Ukraine along with Patriot missile defense installations.

The appeal was supported by the US Congress, but Israel vetoed this decision as an equal partner in creating the system.

The Times of Israel, citing government sources, reported that this was done in order not to spoil relations with Moscow, especially given the "Russian influence in Syria."

The Israeli ambassador to Ukraine, Michael Brodsky, later told the Haaretz newspaper: “As far as I know, this issue was raised even before the start of the war.

The Ukrainian side was made clear that this is impossible, but they continue to insist.” 

  • The Iron Dome system intercepts missiles in Sderot

  • Gettyimages.ru

  • © Ilia Yefimovich/picture alliance

President Volodymyr Zelensky has made controversial statements about the Iron Dome.

Thus, during his March address to the Israeli parliament, he criticized the country's authorities for refusing to transfer the system to Kyiv and asked to supply missile defense systems to Ukraine.

However, he later noted that this system allegedly does not suit Kyiv because of the much larger area of ​​​​Ukraine compared to Israel.

This statement was made a week before the statement of the Ukrainian ambassador, who offered to buy Iron Dome.

Moreover, the Iron Dome is not the only weapon whose delivery to Ukraine was blocked by Israel.

A similar decision was made with regard to Spike SR anti-tank missiles, reports The Jerusalem Post, citing Yevgeny Korniychuk.

“I know for sure that last week the Americans gave permission to transfer anti-tank missiles from Germany to Ukraine, but Israel said no,” the ambassador said and added that Berlin wanted to make this delivery

.

The Ukrainian diplomat also lamented that since the outbreak of hostilities, Kyiv "had no military-technical cooperation with Israel."

There will be no deliveries

While Ukrainian officials are pushing for the delivery of Iron Dome missile defense systems, Israeli media indicate that their potential effectiveness against Russian missile weapons is questionable.

So, back in March, the Haaretz newspaper published an article under the heading “Why the Israeli Iron Dome will not help Ukraine (defend. -

RT

) from Russia”, which expressed the opinion that the transfer of these systems to Kiev will not bring any benefit.

“The vastness of Ukraine’s territory and the advanced technical characteristics of Russian projectiles mean that the export of the Israeli Iron Dome missile defense system, which Ukraine is so eager to get its hands on, is unlikely to help protect the country from shelling,” the columnist noted.

  • “Why Israel’s Iron Dome won’t help Ukraine [defend] against Russia”

  • © Haaretz

Military experts interviewed by RT agreed with this assessment.

In Israel itself, the Iron Dome system is used primarily against Palestinian Qassam ground-to-ground missiles.

According to analysts, these are primitive rockets that are actually made in a handicraft way and do not have a guidance system.

“The Iron Dome system is designed for improvised Palestinian missiles and will not show itself in any way in a hypothetical duel with Russian cruise missiles.

The system is not new.

Russian sea-based cruise missiles have low visibility, and missiles like the Kinzhal cannot be stopped by any missile defense system, be it the Iron Dome or something else, ”said military observer Alexander Khrolenko.

“Hypersonic missiles are elusive for all existing and promising systems,” he stated.

Thus, the statement of the Ukrainian ambassador about his intention to buy the Iron Dome can be regarded as a gesture of desperation, the military expert believes.

“This is a common statement in the current situation, when the Armed Forces of Ukraine have almost completely lost all military equipment, including missile defense systems.

Up to three S-300 installations are destroyed per day, which are more effective than the Iron Dome.

This request is in the trend of the entire foreign policy of Ukraine, they are now begging all over the world and asking: “Give me, dear people, who can do anything,” he explained.

Even the hypothetical immediate transfer or sale of the Iron Dome complexes to Ukraine will not affect its combat capability in any way, Khrolenko added.

“Ukrainian diplomats are now trying to get at least something, but the defeat of the Kyiv regime is inevitable.

Now we need to think not about missile defense systems, which, even if they appear on Ukrainian territory, will not help in any way, because every day dozens of missile strikes are carried out by high-precision missile weapons from different directions: from the sea, from land.

No missile defense system will make the weather under these circumstances, ”the interlocutor of RT emphasized.

  • Launch of an interceptor missile by the Iron Dome system

  • AP

  • © Ariel Schalit

In turn, a military expert, senior researcher at the Higher School of Economics Vasily Kashin expressed the opinion that Tel Aviv is not going to transfer or sell any weapons to Kyiv for political reasons.

“Israel seeks not to complicate relations with Russia, since it is connected with Moscow by several of its own foreign policy plots, for which it is necessary to interact with the Russian side.

Ukrainian statements on this issue are common political rhetoric,” the analyst stressed.

There is no indication that Israel even considered transferring the Iron Dome or other systems that the Israeli military-industrial complex produces to Kyiv, Kashin added.

“Therefore, the fact that Ukrainians say they want something is practically irrelevant.

They have already announced a lot and named a lot of weapons systems that they would like to get.

German submarines, Patriot systems and everything else.

But as a matter of fact, this is not yet the case.

And most likely there will be no such supplies from Israel, ”the expert concluded.