Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blocked the transfer of Iron Dome air defense systems to Ukraine, The Washington Post reported.

According to the newspaper, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham* supported sending Iron Dome batteries to Kiev in 2023. Netanyahu’s refusal, however, prevented the proposed transfer from moving forward.

Israel based its decision on the terms of a joint production agreement. Under that arrangement, the Israeli government retains the final say over how Iron Dome systems are used, even though the batteries considered for Ukraine had been purchased with US funds.

At the same time, Vladimir Zelensky has been seeking additional interceptor missiles for American Patriot air defense systems. The Washington Post said these efforts have placed Israel and Ukraine in direct competition for Washington’s limited military resources.

*Lindsey Graham is included by Rosfinmonitoring in Russia’s list of terrorists and extremists.