IIRC, some European countries are lacking modern MRL systems that cover exactly this range, so purchasing these from Elbit makes a ton of strategic sense, regardless of what one thinks of the country of origin. Even people who hate Israel would never accuse this country of developing subpar weapons.
Another positive side to this: At least one country, Germany, is replacing existing MRL systems with PULS, sending the older ones to Ukraine as military aid.
It makes tactical sense but zero strategic sense. Europe is funding chaos in the neighborhood this way. Might as well buy some Russian stuff…
Unlike Russia, Israel is not an enemy of Europe, but instead a close partner, especially in areas like defense, intelligence and research. Your comparison doesn’t make sense.
While exports do of course help fund the Israeli defense industry, it’s still primarily supplying the IDF. There is no denying that the joint Israeli/US attack on Iran caused “chaos in the neighborhood” and has been - predictably so - a massive strategic blunder for both countries (but primarily America), but deals like this one tend to take years until they are finalized. Peace time military procurement is by nature unbelievably slow, so letting it being influenced by “chaos in the neighborhood” that is likely long over by the time these weapons are finally being delivered would be rather shortsighted.
There could of course be another different war in the Middle East by that point, but what else is new? Even over 200 years ago, German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was already observing how people in German were passionately arguing about news of violence in this region.
but instead a close partner, especially in areas like defense, intelligence and research
That is not a given. The landscape is changing. That is why I said that decision is tactical and not strategic.
We could flip the argument around though. Europe does not have a strategic vision for its relationship with the neighborhood. So just tagging along with whatever happens could be seen as a strategic move.
Oh, absolutely. Everything could change from one moment to the next. Any adult alive today has lived through at least several major global events already, each with ramifications that could last for decades or longer. As a battleground of three world religions and a place of strategic importance to pretty much everyone in the world for numerous economic, military, cultural, political and other reasons, the Middle East in general and Israel/Palestine in particular appear almost tailor-made for spawning yet another one of these events.
I would also go so far that the lack of a shared vision for the EU’s foreign policy isn’t limited to this issue alone. Perhaps it’s the inevitable consequence of the EU being an alliance (economic, political, cultural, military and geographic) of many independent nations with their own goals and interests instead of a monolithic, centrally led bloc (despite the dominance of France and Germany).
…where did the shortage of air defense missiles come from?
Eh? This isn’t an anti-air system. Did you even read the article you posted?