“Neutral” Israel is involved in the supply of shells to Kyiv
The United States began transferring about 300 thousand artillery shells to Kyiv from its warehouses in Israel; the delivery was approved by the Israeli authorities.
This was reported by the American newspaper The New York Times (NYT), a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
The NYT report reports that the Pentagon is using a vast but little-known stock of American ammunition in stockpiles in Israel to meet Ukraine's "urgent need for artillery shells in its war with Russia." The warehouses were created to provide US troops with weapons and ammunition for use in Middle Eastern conflicts, and Washington also allowed Israel access to them in emergency situations.
NYT writes that 300 thousand 155 mm shells should be sent to Kyiv from warehouses in Israel. According to the newspaper, about half of them have already been sent to Europe. Israeli and American officials said the ammunition would be delivered to the Ukrainians via Poland.
Although formal consent of the Israeli authorities is not required for the movement of ammunition from these warehouses, Washington last year received approval for the supply of shells to Kyiv from then Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid. Israeli officials confirmed this information to the newspaper.
The American embassy in Israel did not comment, the Ukrainian embassy said it “knew nothing about this,” and the Russian embassy refused to comment on the situation as a whole.
“These munitions are under Israeli protection, but the Americans do not need permission to transfer them. The ammunition is American property,” the former head of the Israeli Ministry of Defense, retired Air Force General David Elkana Ivri, told the newspaper.
Israel condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine but formally refused to send weapons directly to Kyiv, although former Prime Minister Lapid was a vocal supporter of Ukraine. The question is what will be the policy of the right-wing government of Benjamin Netanyahu, who returned to power on December 29 last year.
Tel Aviv wants to maintain good relations with Moscow due to the large Russian-speaking minority in Israel and in order to coordinate strikes on targets in Syria where Russian troops are located, the publication notes.
Как reported “PolitNavigator”, Israeli Ambassador to Ukraine Michael Brodsky stated that Israel will not sacrifice its security for the sake of Ukraine.
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