London’s skies are protected by Israeli technology. And even the EU is turning to the ‘space Zionists’ for help

It is easy to condemn Ahava beauty creams, Jordan Valley dates, Golan Heights wines and Jaffa grapefruit. It is harder to do without Israeli military technology. Not only because, as Edmund Fitton-Brown, former ambassador to Yemen, told The Times yesterday, ‘Israel has helped prevent a number of attacks from taking place on British soil in recent years’. If Britain were to do without it, it would have to abandon Sky Sabre, the air defence system that uses Rafael’s MIC4AD software – the same as that used in the ‘Iron Dome’. When British Labour ministers were considering switching to a Norwegian alternative during the Gaza war to appease MPs calling for a tougher line on Israel, Lord Austin, the British government’s trade envoy to Israel, warned that “the RAF would not be able to get its aircraft off the ground without Israeli technology” and that British troops in Iraq and Afghanistan would have suffered heavier casualties without it.

Philip Lester, former head of the RAF, has called on Labour to restore relations with Israel so that Britain can benefit from its expertise in the development of defence systems, including the Iron Dome. The UK has six Sky Sabre batteries that use Israeli technology: four are deployed to defend the UK, one is stationed in Poland to help protect NATO’s eastern flank, whilst another is located in the Falklands. The British Army has also used an Israeli anti-drone system to neutralise an unmanned aerial vehicle that caused the closure of London Gatwick Airport for over 36 hours, stranding tens of thousands of passengers. Even countries that have taken a harder line against Israel, imposed political sanctions and curtailed ties with Israel are in no hurry to abandon Israeli defence systems.

Sánchez’s Spain is the most obvious example. In September 2025, Madrid passed a law aimed at imposing a broad military embargo on Israel. However, the law allows the government to approve exceptions where it considers that the national interest so requires. Defence agreements with Israel have continued even after the law came into force, for example to allow Airbus to continue using Israeli technology in strategic projects. According to a report by the Delas Centre for Peace Studies in Barcelona, Spanish military imports from Israel continued even after October 2023, reaching a value of 36.7 million euros. In fact, ‘Spain has never imported as much as it has since 7 October 2023’, the report states. Finland, too, has imposed sanctions on Israeli settlements, whilst it is in negotiations with Israel to purchase its ‘David’s Sling’ system to protect its airspace and borders with Russia. In recent weeks, several NATO member states have signed major military agreements with Israel, beginning with Greece, which has equipped itself with an air defence system entirely ‘made in Israel’, the ‘Achilles Shield’.

Meanwhile, the director of the Israel Space Agency, Shimrit Maman, travelled to Brussels this week, where she met Ekaterina Zaharieva, the European Commissioner for Innovation and Research. “One of the things we are working on is early warning systems,” said Maman. “We saw this very clearly during the latest round of missile attacks we experienced from Iran. How can we ensure that warnings reach all civilians in Israel and prevent so many casualties?” As part of a major expansion of its operations in Europe, the Israeli company Rafael has confirmed that it will open a factory to produce its Iron Dome defence system by converting the Volkswagen plant in Osnabrück, Germany – a facility the German car manufacturer had planned to close by 2027. Yoav Tourgeman, chairman of Rafael Advanced Defence Systems, stated that the partnership with Germany forms part of a long-term relationship with the country, “with the idea that the technology will be produced entirely in Germany to protect Germany and Europe”. Much of the EU’s defence policy, including that of many countries imposing sanctions on the settlements, is decided within the walls of Jerusalem.