Israel’s interim Prime Minister Yair Lapid chairs the first cabinet meeting, days after lawmakers dissolved parliament, in Jerusalem July 3, 2022. Gil Cohen-Magen/Pool via REUTERS
JNS.org – Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid is expected to travel to Germany in the coming weeks to discuss, among other things, Berlin’s request to procure a missile defense system from either Israel or the United States, according to Israel Hayom.
Germany is looking to acquire the Arrow 3 — built by Israel Aerospace Industries — or the US THAAD system — produced by Lockheed Martin — to defend against threats, including Russian Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad.
Arrow-3, which intercepts ballistic missiles from outer space and neutralizes them before they reenter the Earth’s atmosphere, is considered one of the most state-of-the-art interceptors and the only one that crashes into missiles, rather than detonating them with warheads.
It is designed to serve as the top of the multi-layer Israeli air defense system, joining the ranks of Arrow 2, David’s Sling and Iron Dome.
The German government first made the request at the beginning of 2022, when Naftali Bennett was prime minister, and talks are expected to continue for some time.
