The Negev Summit hosted by Israel saw the foreign ministers of the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Bahrain express interest in expanding defense intelligence collaboration with Israel, as well as potentially procuring Israeli-made defense systems, financial daily Globes reported Monday.
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Citing "Israeli and other sources," the report said that during the summit, which Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said would become an annual event, officials representing the Gulf partners to the Abraham Accords asked Israel for defense systems, expressing interest specifically in Iron Dome and Arrow defense systems and the Green Pine radar system. the report said, noting that this was not the first time the Gulf kingdoms have expressed interest in acquiring Israeli air defenses.
Internationally renowned for its performance, Iron Dome is designed to intercept and destroy short-range rockets and artillery shells fired from distances of between 4 and 70 kilometers (2.5-43 miles). Since becoming operational in 2011, Iron Dome has been instrumental in defending the Israeli home front from rocket salvos fired by Gaza Strip-based terrorist groups on the country's central and southern regions, and against Hezbollah's threats in the north.
The Arrow is a group of anti-ballistic missiles defense systems designed to intercept ballistic missiles during the space-flight portion of their trajectory. Arrow 2 is a short- and medium-range ballistic missile interceptor and Arrow 3 is an exoatmospheric hypersonic interceptor. Arrow is considered one of the most advanced missile defense programs currently in existence.
Green Pine Radar Systems are a family of transportable, ground-based radar systems, designed to autonomously detect and simultaneously track dozens of tactical ballistic missiles from long ranges under all weather conditions and in the presence of undesired signals.
According to the report, the defense systems' developers have already received procurement inquiries and the matter is pending the Defense Ministry's decision, as it must sign off on any sale of an Israeli-made defense system to a foreign country.
Morocco, the UAE and Bahrain are only the latest countries to eye Israeli air defenses.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz confirmed over the weekend that his country was considering purchasing Israeli defense systems to shield against a potential attack from Russia.
"This is certainly one of the issues we are discussing, and for good reason," he told public broadcaster ARD when asked whether Germany might buy a defense system such as Israel's Iron Dome.
When asked whether Germany aimed to procure a missile defense system with a longer range than its existing Patriot batteries, Scholz said, "We need to be aware that we have a neighbor who is prepared to use violence to enforce their interests."
The Bild am Sonntag newspaper reported earlier a missile defense shield for the whole territory of Germany was one of the topics discussed when Scholz met with Eberhard Zorn, Germany's chief of defense.
Specifically, they spoke about a possible acquisition of the Israeli "Arrow 3" system, the paper said.
Andreas Schwarz, a member of parliament for Scholzs Social Democrats who is a budget spokesperson, told the newspaper such a system made sense.
"We must protect ourselves better against the threat from Russia. For this, we need a Germany-wide missile defense shield quickly," he told the newspaper, adding: "The Israeli Arrow 3 system is a good solution."
German news agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported Sunday that a delegation comprising senior German officials is visiting Israel this week for talks about the potential procurement.
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