Israel has supplied Ukraine with 90 Patriot missiles, facilitated by the United States.

Approximately 90 Patriot missiles from Israel are being sent to Ukraine – initially, they will be directed to the United States, and from there to storage facilities in Poland, after which they will be transferred to Ukraine.

Source. This is reported by CNN.

The missiles had been stored in Israel, which has operated Patriot air defense systems for over 30 years, and decommissioned them in April 2024.

Discussions about transferring missiles from Israel to Ukraine have been ongoing since last summer, with Israeli leaders adopting a very cautious approach to avoid excessive criticism of Russia. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought to maintain relations with Putin and did not authorize the transfer of missiles.

However, at the end of September, Netanyahu finally approved the idea, an Israeli official reported.

At that time, Netanyahu wanted to speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to gain his approval for the annual Hasidic pilgrimage to the city of Uman in Ukraine, where a renowned rabbi is buried.

According to a Ukrainian official, Zelensky did not respond to the call until Netanyahu approved the Patriot deal, writes Axios.

An Israeli senior official stated that Israel had informed Russia in advance about its move and emphasized that it was “only returning the Patriot system to the U.S.” rather than supplying weapons to Ukraine.

In April 2024, the Israel Defense Forces announced that it was decommissioning its Patriot systems, which had been fully integrated into the military in 1991. The first interception by Israeli Patriots occurred during the war between Israel and Hamas in 2014, when the system shot down a drone launched from Gaza.

However, the Patriot missiles are not the primary air defense system in Israel. To date, the IDF has stated that Israeli Patriot batteries have conducted 19 interceptions, including 9 during the ongoing war against Hamas.

Israel relies much more on its short-range air defense system, the Iron Dome, as well as the mid-range David's Sling missiles and the long-range Arrow missiles.

Background. Recall that the Israeli ambassador to Ukraine Brodskiy explained why Israel does not provide military assistance to Ukraine – according to him, the country does not want to disrupt contacts with Russia.