Saudi Arabia considers shopping for Israeli missile defence system – Center East Monitor

Saudi Arabia has reached out to Israel over the potential of procuring missile defence techniques, in response to trade-specific information and evaluation journal Breaking Defence. The Iron Dome manufactured by Israel’s defence expertise firm Rafael and Barak ER produced by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) are two of the choices being thought-about by Riyadh.

Israeli defence sources advised the journal that such a deal can be real looking, so long as each nations acquired approval from Washington. One supply added that Saudi Arabia’s “curiosity within the Israeli techniques has reached a really sensible part.”

The identical sources are reported as saying that Riyadh has already held low-level talks with Tel-Aviv for a number of years about such techniques. The talks apparently started to tackle extra vitality as soon as it turned clear that the US was going to take away its air defence belongings from the Kingdom.

That call has already been made with Washington quietly eradicating the American THAAD and Patriot batteries from Prince Sultan Air Base, positioned outdoors Riyadh. The batteries had been deployed within the Kingdom following a 2019 strike on Saudi oil production facilities. The Iran-backed Houthis, whose mid and long-range ballistic missiles are intercepted by US-made Saudi air defence techniques, had been held chargeable for the assault.

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Washington is unlikely to face in the best way of a deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia. Certainly, Riyadh’s buy of Israeli-manufactured weapons is predicted to speed up arms gross sales with the Arab international locations that normalised relations with the occupation state a 12 months in the past as a part of the Abraham Accords. Saudi Arabia has maintained the place that full normalisation with Israel will solely occur after it ends its occupation of Palestine.

Retired Brigadier Normal Giora Elland, former director of Israel’s Nationwide Safety Council and a former head of the Planning Division of the Israel Defence Forces, mentioned that he expects no objections from Washington to the sale of those Israeli techniques to “pleasant Gulf international locations”.

Riyadh can also be mentioned to be contemplating different choices for its missile defence, together with China and Russia.