Israel is not transferring the Iron Dome system to Ukraine because it fears that the technology will end up in Iran

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is concerned that Israeli weapons could be captured on the battlefield in Ukraine. As Iran and Russia have established closer relations, the technology of the system could end up in Iranian hands.

He told The Wall Street Journal about this.

"If this system falls into Iran's hands, millions of Israelis will be left unprotected and under threat," Netanyahu said.

The prime minister added that Israel has joined UN resolutions condemning Russia's invasion and has handed over an early warning system to Ukraine to detect missile attacks.

As a reminder, Ukraine's Ambassador to Israel, Yevhen Korniychuk, said a year ago that Ukraine wanted to buy the Iron Dome.

Israel also could not allow the US to transfer the system to Ukraine because it "has concerns that a number of Ukraine's Western allies do not have".

On June 22, Benjamin Netanyahu also said in an interview with The Jerusalem Post that Israel was concerned that any systems the country would provide to Ukraine could fall into Iranian hands and be used against them. 

"This is not a theoretical possibility. This happened with the Western anti-tank weapons [that the allies are giving to Ukraine] that we now find near our borders," the Prime Minister said.

Ukraine's embassy in Israel accused the country's government of taking a pro-Russian stance. After that, Ukrainian Ambassador Korniichuk was summoned to a meeting at the Israeli Foreign Ministry.