Former Israeli PM Yair Lapid Pledges Military Aid to Ukraine if He Returns to Power

Logo for Militaranyi featuring a stylized geometric design in beige on a dark blue background.

21 September 2026

Silhouette of a military missile launcher against a sunset sky with mountains in the background.
An Iron Dome system. Photo credits: U.S. Department of Defense

Former Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said he would restore military aid to Ukraine if he returns to office.

He made the remarks in an interview with Israel’s Yesh Atid television channel, as reported by ZN.ua.

Lapid said that both the war in Ukraine and the balance of power in the region have changed in recent years. He pointed to growing ties between Russia and Iran, including military cooperation between Moscow and Tehran, as a key factor.

“I think that if we return to power, we will do much more than we did before. The war has changed, and so has the balance of power,” Lapid told Yesh Atid.

He added that Israel should do everything it can to support Ukraine.

РЛС компанії RADA. Джерело: сайт компанії

RADA radar. Photo credits: the company’s website

He also explained why his government decided not to provide Ukraine with weapons or the Iron Dome missile defense system in 2022.

According to Lapid, Israel’s own security concerns were the main reason for that decision.

During his time as prime minister, Lapid supported humanitarian aid for Ukraine. In particular, Israel sent a field hospital and medical staff to Ukraine.

Lapid also acknowledged that he had misjudged the Russian leadership’s intentions at the start of the full-scale invasion.

Батарея «Залізного купола» запускає ракету Tamir. Джерело: BreakingDefense

An Iron Dome battery launches a Tamir interceptor. Photo credits: Breaking Defense

The politician also highlighted Ukraine’s experience in combating drones. According to Lapid, Ukraine has developed technologies and capabilities that could benefit Israel.

Militarnyi previously reported that Israel had blocked the transfer of U.S.-made Iron Dome air defense batteries to Ukraine.

U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham pushed for the transfer in 2023. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vetoed the proposal, citing the terms of the agreement on the joint production of the system, which gave Israel the final say over its use.

Although the batteries were purchased and maintained with funding from the U.S. government, Israel stated that it was concerned that the Iron Dome’s sensitive technology could fall into Iran’s hands.

Instead of the Iron Dome systems, Israel returned Patriot batteries to the United States, which were later transferred to Ukraine.

3 comments

  1. The war criminal Netanyahu doesn’t understand that the balance of power has shifted and that Ukraine is an important part of countering Iranian threats and its terrorist allies through its epic struggle with their greatest supporter, mafia land.

  2. From Heather Cox Richardson:

    [O]n Thursday, September 17, Anton Troianovski of the New York Times reported that Trump is suggesting Putin will be more willing to end his war if the U.S. makes business deals with Russia regardless of whether it stops its assault on Ukraine. In February, Troianovski reported that Gentry Beach, a Texas investor with ties to the Trumps, signed an agreement last fall with one of the biggest energy companies in Russia to develop Alaska’s natural gas resources.

    According to a September 14 piece by Dexter Filkins in the New Yorker, the Trump administration has essentially privatized U.S. foreign policy for their own interests. The “generally held view,” a former U.S. official told Filkins, is that Russia has offered administration officials and their allies business deals in exchange for their supporting Russian demands against Ukraine. A classified report a European intelligence agency provided to Filkins lists Trump, his son-in-law Jared Kushner, special envoy Steve Witkoff, former envoy Richard Grenell, and Gentry Beach as people who might participate in any of ten money-making ventures on the table.

    • We can forget Taco of ever growing a set of balls and acquiring any brains or a sense of morals. That’s never going to happen.

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