Foreign Ministry Confirms Israel Not Sending Hezbollah’s Russian-Made Weapons to Ukraine
Jerusalem, 2 February, 2025 (TPS-IL) -- Israel will not be sending Hezbollah’s Russian-made weapons to Ukraine contrary to recent reports that such a plan is in the works, The Press Service of Israel has learned.
“The reports are baseless. There is no change in the policy of the state of Israel on this matter,” a spokesperson for Israel’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement to a TPS-IL request to confirm or deny that a transfer has already begun.
The possibility was first raised in November when then-MK Sharren Haskel proposed legislation that would allow Israel to send Russia-made weapons seized from Hezbollah to Ukraine.
However, sometime after entering the government as deputy foreign minister together with Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar in November, Haskel reversed her stance on the legislation, TPS-IL understands. A source in the Foreign Ministry told TPS-IL that Haskel “is not interested in promoting the move,” and has revoked the bill.
Military analysts recently noted U.S. Air Force C-17 cargo planes flying from an air base in southern Israel to Rzeszów, Poland, which is a key logistics hub for military aid to Ukraine. The flights followed a statement by Ukraine’s Ambassador to Israel, Evgeny Kornyichuk, who met with Haskel on January 22. During their meeting, the ambassador expressed “hope for a positive resolution” of the weapons transfers.
But the ambassador’s remarks were “deliberately misleading,” a Foreign Ministry source told TPS-IL.
“It was a regular meeting, and the issue of weapons was not discussed there at all,” the source said.
Axios reported on Jan. 28 that the C-17s flying from Israel to Poland were carrying 90 Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine that had been officially decommissioned by the Israeli Air Force in April 2023. A spokesperson for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed to Axios that Israel returned the Patriot systems but did not specify whether they were delivered to Ukraine.
Jerusalem and Moscow had an understanding that Russia would not impede Israeli strikes on Iranian proxies in Syria while Israel did not provide weapons to Russia’s enemies, Prof. Zeev Khanin told TPS-IL. Khanin heads the Post-Soviet Conflicts Research Program at the BESA Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University.
Although Israeli forces captured large quantities of Russian-made weapons from Hezbollah, “Israel still is not interested in opening another front against Russia by openly sending arms to Ukraine,” Khanin explained. “It has been sending humanitarian aid to Ukraine, and could have been sending non-lethal defense equipment, which it never confirmed, but not the arms. The tensions between Jerusalem and Moscow heighten, but the agreement still holds.”
The Ukrainian embassy in Israel did not respond to TPS-IL’s request for comment. In November, Ambassador Korniychuk told TPS-IL, “I’ve heard all these ideas of not provoking Russia. But given everything, Russia hosting Hamas leaders, supplying Hezbollah with weapons, and more, what else can you provoke?”
Based on previous photos and videos released by the Israel Defense Forces, the seized Russian arms include Kornet anti-tank guided missiles, Strela shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles, RPG-29 Vampire and RPG-27 Tavolga rocket-propelled grenade launchers, Metis-M anti-tank missile systems, and MRO-A rocket-propelled anti-personnel flamethrowers. Also confiscated were stockpiles of Kalashnikov rifles.
The Russian weapons were found in larger quantities than expected, often in their original crates with Russian labels. The Wall St. Journal reported that as much as 70% of Hezbollah’s weapons were Russian-made.
It isn’t clear if the weapons were directly provided by Russia or delivered by third parties.
Under the terms of a two-month ceasefire that went into effect on November 27, Hezbollah is supposed to withdraw its armed presence from areas of southern Lebanon south of the Litani River. Israeli forces will also withdraw from southern Lebanon in stages. The Lebanese Armed Forces is to be deployed in southern Lebanon including along the 120 km border with Israel, as will monitors from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon. The ceasefire was due to expire on Jan. 26.
However, with Israeli officials dissatisfied with Beirut’s inability to enforce the ceasefire, the truce was extended to Feb. 18.
According to United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 Second Lebanon War, Hezbollah is forbidden from operating in southern Lebanon south of the Litani River.