Iron Dome could be useful in the front-line zones of Kharkiv or Kherson regions - Israeli military expert

He expressed his opinion live on air of the Espreso TV channel.

"If we talk purely theoretically about Israel's decision to supply something to Ukraine, then Ukrainian and Israeli experts must decide together on air defense systems and anti-missile systems. Israel has many different air defense systems in addition to Iron Dome. It is not a fact that the Iron Dome is needed. However, Iron Dome could bring some benefit, as anti-missile defense, specifically to the front-line zones in Kharkiv or Kherson regions, because the niche against which it works is unguided missile shells and missiles with a range of 4 to 70 km. Recently, these capabilities have been expanded, but this is the main purpose for which it was developed," Israeli military expert explained.

David Handelman added that this complex can work against Grad, Uragan and other missiles with the same range. Also, theoretically, Iron Dome can work against artillery shells.

"It is clear that, based on its tactical and technical characteristics, it was not intended from the very beginning to cover the strategic rear of Ukraine, which is hit by long-range missiles, including air-based missiles. Israel has other systems against such threats, for example, David's Sling anti-missile defense, there are also systems for defeating ballistic missiles with a range of 1000 km. Israel has many different means of air defense and anti-missile defense. And if it really comes down to it, Ukrainian and Israeli experts will choose what is most suitable based on the parameters and characteristics of threats, specifically for Ukraine. And Iron Dome is best known in its niche and has shown high efficiency. However, Ukraine has a different threat map, which does not coincide with Israel's threat map, therefore, if this is the case, we need to look at the real threats that need to be defended against," Handelman noted. 

• Earlier, Netanyahu said that he was studying the possibility of providing Ukraine with Iron Dome air defense system .

• On January 18, Minister of Defense Oleksii Reznikov said that Ukraine is calling on Israel to cooperate in any way, but so far to no avail.

• On February 3, Walla reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to review Israel's policy on supplying weapons to Ukraine.