Citizens of Israel appealed to their government officials to transfer the decommissioned Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine.

The petition’s text with the possibility of voting has been published online.

The IDF’s official website and the Israeli media reported that Israel was abandoning the use of the MIM-104 Patriot air defense system in favor of the domestic David’s Sling system.

Citizens launched a petition and published an appeal to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to consider the transfer of Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine.

“As the IDF decommissioned the Patriot air defense system from the Air Force, we, the citizens of Israel and representatives of the Jewish community in Ukraine and around the world, ask the Israeli government, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and members of the Knesset to make a clear decision to transfer the MIM-104 Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, we have witnessed daily aerial terrorism against Ukrainian citizens, who are being killed in cold blood by the ruthless Russian government. Iran and Russia are increasing the supply of weapons to terrorist organizations, increasing cooperation in the development and use of unconventional weapons against humanity, and helping each other to destroy our countries. It is only fitting that we also join forces, build a strong alliance, and support each other through technology transfer, development of knowledge resources, and international advocacy,” the statement reads.

Decommissioning of Patriot systems

The Israeli Air Force plans to retire its outdated Patriot missile defense systems in the coming months and replace them with more advanced air defense capabilities.

In February, the Israeli Air Force stated it was in the process of decommissioning several Patriot batteries, also known in the country as Yahalom. The personnel operating the systems will undergo retraining on other systems.

“We are currently in the process of reducing the [number of] batteries until the entire system is closed,” said the head of the Aerial Defense Array’s 138th Battalion, which operates the Patriot.

The publication notes that “it is not yet clear what will happen to the Patriot batteries, which are much needed by Ukraine, which seeks to protect its sky from Russian missiles.”

In its article of the day, Militarnyi analyzed in detail the state of the Israeli Air Force, counting seven systems in service, at least four of which are in combat readiness. These are full-fledged Patriot batteries in the PAC-2 version.

In the early 2000s, the batteries and their AN/MPQ-53 radars underwent a comprehensive upgrade and integration of modern GEM-T missiles adapted to intercept ballistic missiles.