How the Ukraine War is Changing European-Israeli Relations

Today, more than ever, Europe and Israel need each other.

In a rapidly changing Middle East, Israel faces growing challenges and unprecedented opportunities. Iran’s nuclear program and regional proxies increasingly threaten Israel’s security, while the expanding Abraham Accords usher in a new era of normalization with key Arab states.

At the same time, Israel’s most important ally, the United States, is undergoing profound domestic political changes while reorienting its strategic priorities beyond the Middle East.

Jerusalem cannot rely solely on Washington. Israel needs as many powerful partners as possible, and Europe is vital in this regard.

Europe is Israel’s largest trade and innovation partner and its top defense export market.

In the past two decades, the European Union has contributed billions of euros to Israeli research and development (R&D) efforts. Israel’s recent admission into Horizon Europe, the EU’s flagship innovation program, opens the door to significantly more R&D investment in the next decade.

In future conflicts, Israel will need political and diplomatic support. Europe, the world’s largest democratic bloc, influences the U.N. Security Council and global institutions that impact Israel’s international standing.

But this relationship is not a one-way street.

Russia’s war on Ukraine has shaken Europe’s sense of security, and many European policymakers are looking to Israel for urgent solutions. NATO countries are ramping up defense budgets and looking to modernize their militaries in response to the threat posed by Moscow. Germany alone is injecting €100 billion into its defense budget and raising annual spending to greater than 2% of its GDP. These figures are higher than any level in the last three decades, and would amount to the third largest defense budget in the world.

Russia’s war on Ukraine has shaken Europe’s sense of security, and many European policymakers are looking to Israel for urgent solutions.

In March 2022, just a few weeks after Russian forces attacked Ukraine, members of the German Bundestag’s Defense Committee visited Israel on a special delegation led by the European Leadership Network (ELNET), the organization for which I work. Upon their return, the MPs voted to purchase 140 munitions for upgraded Israeli Heron-TP drones, a €150 million acquisition. The advanced, weaponized drones—Germany’s first ever—are developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). Berlin is also mulling the acquisition of the Israeli Arrow-3 anti-missile defense system, a €2.5 billion platform.

Other European countries are looking to Israel for defense cooperation as well. Finland, following similar steps taken by the Czech Republic and Hungary, is in the process of purchasing air defense systems from Israel. The bid has been narrowed to two Israeli companies: Israel Aerospace Industries and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.

Finland’s neighbor Sweden likewise awarded the Israeli company Elbit Systems a contract to provide the Swedish military with special tank ammunition and Data Setting Units for its Leopard battle tanks. As Finland and Sweden finalize their entry into NATO, their need to modernize their armed forces will continue to position Israel as a critical partner.

Israel also benefits from military cooperation with Europe. German-made Dolphin-class submarines are a critical element of Israel’s strategic deterrence against hostile states. Beyond defense, Europe now looks to Israel for another increasingly important resource: natural gas.

Natural gas is now rivaling petroleum as the commodity that drives global geopolitics. The EU, facing a major energy shortfall, recently signed a historic gas deal with Israel and Egypt in Cairo to reduce its dependence on Russian energy. Italy, Germany, Greece and Spain are particularly dependent on natural gas imports.

With all these strategic concerns in mind, decisionmakers in Brussels are waking up to the need to upgrade relations with the Jewish state. In July, EU foreign ministers unanimously voted in Brussels to revive the EU-Israel Association Council. The Council is the most senior diplomatic forum involving Israel and the EU, but the last time the two sides met was in 2012. European linkage to resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict led to the stalling of this annual forum for a decade.

As the Abraham Accords demonstrated to policymakers from Washington to Brussels, the resolution of the conflict should not be allowed to become a stumbling block for greater cooperation with Israel. Too much is at stake.

Siamak Kordestani is the West Coast Director of Friends of ELNET, the European Leadership Network, an organization working to strengthen European-Israeli ties. Previously, he worked for the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the American Jewish Committee (AJC).