The United States is sending Ukraine artillery shells that are stored in an American weapons depot in Israel, to help in the war effort against Russia, according to the New York Times. The information was later confirmed by Israeli journalists working with the newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.
According to the report, the decision was approved by the previous Yair Lapid-led government. Israel received a formal request from Washington to use the inventory and it was discussed during a security situation assessment. The initial concern was the tensions that such a decision could create between Israel and Moscow. Nonetheless, Israel has not changed its official position on sending their weapons to Ukraine, amid close relations with the Russian Federation.
US supplies artillery shells to Ukraine from large American ammunition stockpile in Israel, @nytimes reports; US promises to replenish weapons as Israel may need them for emergencies, report says
— Israel Radar (@IsraelRadar_com) January 18, 2023
The United States is known to store weapons within Israel but until now it was not clear what was being stored. According to the report, which is based on both American and Israeli sources, the Pentagon sent to Kyiv hundreds of thousands of shells from a huge stockpile of American weapons and ammunition located in an undisclosed place in Israel. This arsenal was known to few, and the shells were sent to Ukraine to help it deal with its shortage of ammunition.
The war between Russia and Ukraine has become an artillery-driven war of attrition, with each side absorbing thousands of shells daily. Kyiv has run out of Soviet-era ammunition and is largely using ammunition and weapons donated by the US and other Western allies. According to US and Western officials, the Ukrainian military uses about 90,000 artillery shells a month, about twice the rate at which they are produced in the US and in European countries as well.
Since the US cannot waste all of its domestic and most of its foreign arsenal, and American arms manufacturers are also unable to keep up with the war in Ukraine, the Pentagon turned to two alternative supplies of shells to bridge the gap; one in Israel and the other in South Korea.
US quietly shipping arms from Israel to Ukraine – NYT
— justsaying (@justsay94731715) January 18, 2023
Published: 18 Jan 2023 | 05:24 GMT
The move has stoked concerns among officials in Israel, which has so far refused to send weapons to Kiev
The use of these supplies has never been reported until a senior American official told the New York Times that the United States has so far sent Ukraine, or committed to sending it, a little more than one million shells. According to the Washington source, a significant part of this amount, yet still less than half, came from warehouses in Israel and South Korea.
According to an Israeli source, American Defense Minister Lloyd Austin officially informed former Defense Minister Benny Gantz over the phone of Washington's desire to transfer the ammunition from Israel to Ukraine, in an encrypted phone call between them a few months back. The report states that Gantz raised the issue before the Knesset’s security cabinet, which asked to hear the opinion of the representatives of the IDF, who recommended complying with the request of the USA in order to avoid tensions along with the fact it remains American property that is simply stored in Israel. The fear was not in letting the weapons go, rather it was how Israel's compliance would be perceived by Moscow.
