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Weapons have been heading from Israel to Ukraine — out of an American stockpile
(JTA) — A significant portion of the weaponry that the United States has sent Ukraine for use in its defensive war against Russia has come from a stockpile in Israel, according to a new report in The New York Times.
The location of the stockpile is significant because Israel has declined to supply Ukraine with weapons out of concern over inflaming Russia, which controls the airspace in neighboring Syria. Israel maintained that stance even as Russia scaled back its position in Syria, where it is seen as constraining the use of weapons aimed at Israel.
The right-wing government inaugurated last month in Israel has signaled that it is open to closer ties with Russia than its predecessor, which had not met with Russian officials since the invasion. Under the previous government, Israel condemned Russia’s invasion despite declining to send weapons, in a stance that has drew specific criticism from Ukrainian officials.
The transfer of the American weapons to Ukraine should not be interpreted as a change in Israel’s stance, unnamed Israeli and American officials told The New York Times, which reported that Israel initially balked at the request.
The Israeli stockpile is one of two that the U.S. military is accessing in countries where it has strategic interests, according to the report, which called the stockpile “vast but little-known.” The other is in South Korea.
The Israeli stockpile dates back to 1973, when the U.S. Department of Defense built in to avoid a situation like the one that unfolded during the Yom Kippur War, when the Americans had to send in supplies from abroad to help the Israelis. While the weapons are intended mainly for use by U.S. forces, the Israeli army was permitted to draw from the stockpile during two conflicts, with Hezbollah in Lebanon in 2006 and Hamas in Gaza in 2014, according to the report.
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The post Weapons have been heading from Israel to Ukraine — out of an American stockpile appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Israeli Military Says It ‘Took Out’ Iran’s Caspian Sea Naval Capabilities
Illustrative: A group of Iranian Navy ships. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
Israel carried out strikes targeting the Iranian navy in the Caspian Sea for the first time on Wednesday, an Israeli military spokesperson said on Thursday, telling reporters that Iran’s naval capabilities in the inland sea had been largely disabled.
Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said the Air Force had struck dozens of targets, including missile boats, a corvette, a shipyard used to build and repair vessels, and a command center.
“We have been able to take out their navy capabilities in the Caspian Sea,” he said in an online briefing with reporters.
“That is a systematic strike on all levels of their naval capabilities in the Caspian Sea.”
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US Approves Billions in Arms Sales to Middle East Countries
Smoke billows from Jebel Ali port after an Iranian attack, following United States and Israel strikes on Iran, United Arab Emirates, March 1, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Amr Alfik
The US State Department on Thursday approved potential arms sales to three Middle East countries worth more than $16.5 billion as the war with Iran intensifies.
The State Department approved the potential sale of missiles, drones, radar systems, and F-16 munitions and upgrades to the United Arab Emirates for a combined total of more than $8.4 billion, it said in statements.
Also approved were possible sales of lower-tier air and missile defense sensor radars to Kuwait for an estimated cost of $8 billion and aircraft and munitions support to Jordan for an estimated cost of $70.5 million.
The sales follow Iran’s attacks on energy infrastructure in response to Israeli attacks on its gas facilities, which marked the biggest escalation of the nearly three-week war, causing gas prices to surge and oil prices to rise further.
The State Department said the principal contractors in the sales will include RTX Corporation, Northrop Grumman, and Lockheed Martin Corporation.
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Two Men Appear in UK Court Accused of Spying on Israeli Embassy, Jewish Targets for Iran
Director General of MI5 Ken McCallum delivers the annual Director General’s Speech at Thames House, the headquarters of the UK’s Security Service, in London, Britain, Oct. 16, 2025. Photo: Jonathan Brady/Pool via REUTERS
Two men appeared in a London court on Thursday accused of being tasked by Iran to carry out hostile surveillance on the Israeli Embassy, Britain’s oldest synagogue, and other Jewish targets.
Nematollah Shahsavani, 40, a dual Iranian-British national, and Alireza Farasati, an Iranian national, 22, are accused of being involved in gathering information and undertaking reconnaissance of targets given to them by Iranian spy services over five weeks last summer.
As such, the alleged activities pre-dated the US-Israeli military campaign against Iran which began on Feb. 28.
Prosecutor Louise Attrill told London’s Westminster Magistrates Court that devices seized from the two men had contained a list of targets.
These included the Israeli Embassy, the Israeli Consulate, London’s Bevis Marks Synagogue, a Jewish community center, and the Community Security Trust, a charity which provides security advice for the country’s Jews.
Attrill said the evidence suggested Shahsavani, who had traveled to Iran last April and was stopped under counter-terrorism powers when he returned to Britain in August, had been given instructions by Iranian intelligence services, and he had tasked Farasati to carry out the surveillance.
The men did not enter a plea and were remanded in custody until their next hearing at London’s Old Bailey Court on April 17. Farasati’s lawyer Alphege Bell said his client was “no religious fanatic.”
British lawmakers and the domestic spy agency MI5 have long warned of threats posed by Iran, with accusations that Tehran was behind more than 20 suspected kidnap and assassination plots.
Iran has repeatedly denied such accusations, saying they are part of a campaign against it by hostile Western powers.
Vicki Evans, the senior national coordinator of Britain’s counter-terrorism police, said she hoped the investigation would reassure Jewish communities that police would act on any threats to their safety.