However, such a move could shatter Israel’s extremely delicate, regional relationship with Russia, which for now has turned a blind eye to Israeli army operations in Syria against Iranian-backed forces.
Moscow is also threatening to close down the Jewish Agency in Russia, which would potentially wreck efforts to facilitate the emigration of Russian Jews to Israel.
Moreover, Israeli officials are said to be concerned that openly siding against Russia with Ukraine could destabilise its nine million-strong population, which includes roughly a million Russian Jews and half a million Ukrainians.
Then there is the nuclear issue: there have been few indications as to what Iran gains from Russia in return for sending drones, which may soon be followed by ballistic missile shipments.
But Iran has accelerated its nuclear programme this year, which Israel regards as an existential threat, and appears to be forging an alliance with nuclear-armed Russia.
On Sunday, one Israeli minister broke ranks to call on his government to give Ukraine military support. “There is no longer any doubt where Israel should stand in this bloody conflict. The time has come for Ukraine to receive military aid as well, just as the USA and Nato countries provide,” Nachman Shai, diaspora affairs minister, wrote on Twitter.
The tweet prompted an angry response from Dmitry Medvedev, former Russian president, who said that supplying weapons would “destroy all bilateral relations between our countries”.
Western-allied Gulf states, in particular the United Arab Emirates, are also no stranger to Iranian drone attacks. On January 17, drones launched by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels struck the city of Abu Dhabi, killing three civilians. And, on July 29, a suspected Iranian drone strike on the Mercer Street vessel off the coast of Oman killed a British sailor and a Romanian captain.
It remains unclear what support, if any, the Gulf states might be willing to provide. Saudi Arabia’s recent decision to cut oil production amid a global energy crisis triggered by Moscow has prompted accusations from Washington that it is siding with Russia in the Ukraine conflict.
Much of the debate over potential Israeli air support has focused on the Iron Dome, a billion-dollar interception system which protects Israeli cities from rockets launched by Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups in Gaza.
Sources familiar with Israel’s military strategy say this is a red herring, arguing that the Iron Dome - which covers the tiny landmass of Israel - is not equipped for dealing with ballistic missiles in a territory as large as Ukraine.
However, the Iron Dome is capable of intercepting drones, and reportedly worked well in taking down several during the May 2021 conflict between Israel and Gaza. Israeli soldiers also have a wealth of experience and expertise which could be shared with Ukrainian troops as well as non-Iron Dome related hardware.
“The Iran-Russia drone axis shows that Iran’s drones now pose a threat far beyond the Middle East,” said Seth Frantzman, an Israeli analyst and the author of the book Drone Wars.
“It also means Ukraine can learn from Israel’s success against drones [which] is achieved by use of good detection systems such as radar, and scrambling jets, helicopters, or ground-based defences to down the drones,” he added, stressing that detecting drones early was a key part of defeating them.
A recent report in the New York Times suggests that Israel may already be sharing intelligence on Iran’s drone programme behind the scenes, while one Israeli media report in September claimed that an Israeli tech firm is providing Ukraine with anti-drone expertise.
Those reports have clearly been read with concern in Moscow, which through its grim bargain with Tehran could be about to drag the Middle East’s other major power into the Ukraine war.
