The war in Ukraine shows that the Finnish government now has reason to think about how wise it is to buy weapons from Israel, writes HS security policy reporter Jarmo Huhtanen.
from Israel has become one of the court procurers of the Finnish Defense Forces in recent years. Even now, the Defense Forces is preparing a deal worth hundreds of millions of euros with Israeli companies.
Finland has bought weapon systems that are central to national defense from Israel. Their importance has been seen and emphasized in the war in Ukraine.
Ukraine has also asked Israel for military aid, but has not received it. However, Israel has offered humanitarian aid.
Israel’s chosen line regarding arms aid to Ukraine has differed from most other Western countries. The almost Finnish reluctance has its own justified but selfish reasons: Israel is afraid of Russia’s reaction.
Israel’s selfishness should be of interest to the Finnish government in a situation where Finland is equipped with Israeli weapons and Finland’s only potential armed threat comes from Russia.
Ukrainian the war has revealed in a brutal way what weapon systems are especially needed in modern warfare.
Such systems include, for example, drones, missiles, anti-aircraft systems and anti-artillery radars. Ukraine is also looking for them now.
Finland has bought all of the above-mentioned systems from Israel in the last decade, or at least plans to buy them in the near future.
So what kind of weapons are we talking about?
Ten years ago Finland ordered from the Israeli Aeronautics Defense Systems company, the Orbiter mini-airplane system.
Orbiters are used in battalions and combat divisions for surveillance, reconnaissance and fire control. Examples of this kind of activity can be seen in the thousands of videos published about the war in Ukraine.
The Defense Forces presented the Orbiter mini-aircraft system in Santahamina six years ago.
In the summer of 2018 Finland bought from Israel Gabriel anti-surface missiles. They are becoming the Navy’s most important weapon system alongside sea mines.
The Gabriels will be installed on future new warships and refurbished Hamina-class missile boats.
Gabriel is an important missile, because they can also be fired from land and also at targets on land. The deal included an option to acquire more missiles.
In April, Ukraine sank the Moskva, the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, with its own anti-sea missile.
Gabriel anti-surface missiles can be fired at both sea and land targets.
Half a year after the Gabriel deal Finland said it would buy anti-artillery radars of the Israeli Elta Systems.
Counter-artillery radars are a system that the Defense Forces do not currently have. They are used to locate and destroy enemy artillery weapons. The radars have proven to be very important in Ukraine, and there is an option for their additional purchases in Finland.
Negotiations are currently underway to buy anti-aircraft missiles worth up to hundreds of millions of euros, because Finland plans to buy in the first half of next year, a missile system capable of high-altitude defense.
Finland lacks such a high-range missile system, which has been one of the biggest shortcomings in the Defense Forces’ arsenal.
Finland’s anti-aircraft missile procurement is also done from Israel, because has reached the end of the bidding process only two Israeli companies namely Israel Aerospace Industries and Rafael Advanced Systems.
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Israel does not want to anger Russia.
With the defense forces there have been good technical justifications for buying weapons from Israel. The world’s absolute best weapon systems are developed and manufactured there. It has also been noticed elsewhere.
Israeli Haaretz newspaper reported precisely that last year was the record year in Israel’s history for arms exports. $11.3 billion worth of weapons were exported.
According to Haaretz, this year is also shaping up to be a great year for exports.
The biggest arms deal in Israel’s history is expected to be the icing on the cake, which would be the sale of the Arrow 3 anti-ballistic missile system to Germany. The deal would be worth up to three billion dollars.
Israel is a great military power. There have even been claims that massive military aid to Israel could be Decisive for Ukraine’s victory.
Israel’s refusal to provide arms aid has caused outrage in other aid-giving countries. So why doesn’t Israel offer arms to Ukraine as a natural part of the rest of the Western community?
The reason is Israel’s security policy. Israel practices cold realpolitik, where its own interest comes first.
Israel does not want to anger Russia, because Russia can make life difficult for Israelis in two important respects.
In the first place Israel needs Russia’s cooperation in Syria, where Israel’s weapons are targeting forces supported by its arch-enemy Iran, and especially the extremist organization Hezbollah.
There is an agreement between Israel and Russia that Russia will not interfere with Israeli airstrikes with its S-300 and S-400 anti-aircraft systems deployed in Syria.
Israel, in turn, takes care that the Russian troops in Syria do not suffer collateral damage in Israeli attacks.
Israel fears that if it arms Ukraine, Russia will retaliate by trying to destroy Israeli planes flying over Syria.
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It is in Israel’s interest to appease and stay in touch with Russia.
Another reason Israel’s reluctance in arming Ukraine is the Jewish community living in Russia. Israel fears that Russia will make it difficult for Jews to immigrate to Israel.
Over the decades, more than a million people have moved to Israel from the territory of the former Soviet Union. About 15 percent of Israelis speak Russian as their mother tongue.
It is in Israel’s interest to appease and stay in touch with Russia. It is Israeli realpolitik.
The Russian but Iran-made drone that hit Kiev in October. Israel is believed to have information on how to counter these drones.
Above what has been said raises several questions for the Finnish government to consider.
If a clash were to break out between Finland and Russia, how is Israel expected to act?
Can Finland trust that Israel would deliver here, for example, more ammunition, spare parts and new weapons to replace the destroyed ones during the war?
Or would Israel look at its own interests even then and just give a warm hand?
What kind of guarantees has Finland received? Or have you received anything at all?
Finland has taken a risk by buying key weapon systems from a country that has separated itself from the rest of the Western community in terms of its Russian policy during the Russian war of aggression.
This leads to the last question: would it be worth buying weapons from another country in the future?
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