This incomplete week, on January 27–29, two significant developments emerged that may hint at Israel's defense support for Ukraine. The catalyst was the recorded flight of multiple U.S. Air Force C-17 military transport aircraft from Israel's Hatzerim Air Base to Rzeszow, Poland — a critical hub for the delivery of military aid to Ukraine.
Initially, reports suggested these flights were delivering russian-origin weapons captured from Hezbollah and other Kremlin-aligned groups. However, now the prevalent theory is that the cargo likely consisted of 90 missiles for Ukraine's Patriot air and missile defense systems.
Read more: Israel is Likely Sending Captured Weapons to Ukraine As Vengeance For russia's Support of Hezbollah
This claim was made by the American news outlet Axios, which framed the delivery as part of a broader agreement involving the potential transfer of Israeli Patriot complexes to Ukraine with U.S. mediation.
Under this arrangement, Israel formally just "returns" its decommissioned Patriots to the U.S. manufacturer for simple "repairs." These systems would then discreetly be allocated to a new end user, presumably Ukraine, without a direct Israeli acknowledgment of the recipient.
For a reminder, Israel had decommissioned its Patriot systems back in April 2024. By summer, discussions between Jerusalem, Washington, and Kyiv surfaced suggesting that these systems might eventually be transferred to Ukraine.
If Axios' report is accurate, this transfer represents a significant but paradoxical decision: while Israel appears willing to provide complex Patriot systems through a roundabout process, it has refrained from delivering much less advanced russian-made weapons captured from Hezbollah.
The hesitancy may be explained by Israel's perspective on the current situation in the Middle East. Despite russia's gradual withdrawal from Syria ostensibly reducing its threat to Israel, Israeli authorities may see it in a completely different light: precisely because russia is becoming less of a threat, it is all the more worth it to avoid unnecessary provocation.
Conversely, the decision to transfer Patriot systems likely reflects a desire to bolster ties with the U.S., the main donor of security assistance to Israel. The geopolitical and strategic benefits of reinforcing this alliance likely outweigh any potential fallout from russia's response to this unconfirmed transfer to Ukraine.
Read more: Israel Decommissions all Patriot Systems as "Too Obsolete," What's the Chance of Ukraine Getting Them
