Israeli authorities recently agreed to finance "strategic materials" for the Ukrainian Armed Forces worth millions of dollars after demands from the U.S. to expand their aid to Ukraine, Haaretz reported, citing three senior European diplomats.
According to the sources, Israel made a payment to a NATO member state, which bought the strategic materials and then delivered them to Ukraine. President Biden's administration initially asked Israel to provide Ukraine with anti-aircraft batteries, but after negotiations between the two governments, it was agreed to finance the "strategic materials."
Haaretz didn't identify the materials' nature upon the request of its sources.
European officials told Haaretz that Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Defense Minister Benny Gantz, who declined to comment, had approved the decision to fund the purchase of the materials for Ukraine.
Israeli authorities asked all involved parties not to publicly disclose the deal in order "not to anger" Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, according to the publication's sources.
Israel also allowed NATO member countries to supply Ukraine with weapons containing Israeli components such as electro-optical and fire-control systems, Haaretz wrote.
On Oct. 24, President Volodymyr Zelensky made an appeal for more support from Israel during an online speech at the Haaretz Democracy Conference.
Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukraine has repeatedly made requests to Israel for military aid that have been rejected. However, with Iran increasingly seen as having joined the war on Russia's side, the choice of Israel to refuse military assistance has come more and more under question.
