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, neutralizing 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.
The Israeli political-defense echelon has expressed great support for the move.
“Germany is one of Israel’s biggest friends in the world, and every such request should be granted,” one official said.
Lapid is expected to travel to Germany on Sept. 12, a week before flying to New York City to attend the United Nations General Assembly.
This article first appeared in Israel Hayom.
