Among the dozens of leaked Defense Department classified documents which were posted online in recent days is one which outlines scenarios in which Israel would agree to provide “lethal aid” to Ukraine, NBC News reports.
The February 28 document is entitled “Israel: Pathways to Providing Lethal Aid to Ukraine” and it provides hypothetical situations that might drive Israel from its balancing act between Kyiv and Moscow.
Marked “secret,” the document also suggests what Israeli weapons could be transferred to Ukraine, such as Israel’s Javelin equivalent and other missile systems.
The analysis says the “most plausible” scenario is that Jerusalem adopts a Turkish model under US pressure, according to NBC News. Like Ankara, it would mean that Israel “sells lethal defense systems or provides them through third-party entities” while openly advocating for peace and “offering to host mediation efforts.”
Alternative scenarios outlined in the document consider how Moscow’s support of Iran’s military programs or proxy efforts in Syria could drive Israel to provide Ukraine with “lethal aid.”
Israel has delivered several tons of humanitarian assistance and defensive equipment to Ukraine during the war, but has stopped short of selling advanced weapons to Kyiv.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was critical of the previous government due to this refusal, and denounced the lack of aid from Israel during the war with Russia, saying his country got “nothing” from Israel.
He later reversed course and said he sees a "positive trend" in Kyiv's relations with Israel after the two countries shared intelligence about Russia's purported use of hundreds of Iranian drones in the war in Ukraine.
Ukraine's Ambassador to Israel, Yevgen Korniychuk, recently said his country would give Israel’s new government a chance.
Meanwhile on Sunday, Western security experts and US officials quoted by Reuters said they suspect that the highly classified military and intelligence documents that appeared online could have been leaked by someone from the United States.
US officials told Reuters said the investigation is in its early stages and those running it have not ruled out the possibility that pro-Russian elements were behind the leak, which is seen as one of the most serious security breaches since more than 700,000 documents, videos and diplomatic cables appeared on the WikiLeaks website in 2013.