History is made as Israeli batteries are deployed to protect Germany from Russian missiles

The deployment was marked by a ceremony with both German and Israeli military officials.

Israeli Defence Minister Amir Baram said in a speech: “As a second-generation Holocaust survivor, I stand here deeply moved because a ballistic missile defence system, developed by the finest Jewish minds in Israel’s aerospace industry, out of our existential necessity, will now help defend Germany.

“We Israelis, descendants of Holocaust survivors, want to see Germany strong and prosperous, proud and leading in Europe and throughout the world. We deeply appreciate that Israeli systems are part of Germany’s renewed force build-up.”

Baram also commented on the now-lifted arms embargo that Germany previously placed upon Israel, saying that “it should never have been imposed against Germany’s ally that is fighting murderous Islamist terrorism.

“We are doing the hard work, sometimes the ‘dirty work’, that the entire world should be doing”, he added.

Israel’s ambassador to Germany Ron Prosor said: “Who could have imagined that only 80 years after the liberation of Auschwitz, the Jewish state, through the technologies it develops, would help defend not only Germany but all of Europe. My family, who fled Germany on the eve of the Holocaust, could never have foreseen this.”

He also commended Germany as “Israel’s most important ally in Europe”.

Arrow 3 has been deployed in Israel on various occasions since October 7. Its first operation during a war was on 31 October 2023 when it intercepted a long-range ballistic missile launched by Yemen’s Houthis.

It was also heavily involved in attempting to thwart Iran’s missile and drone attack in June 2025, with an interception rate of 86 per cent over the 12-day conflict.

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius was not present at the ceremony, but said beforehand that “for the first time, this gives us the capability for early warning and protection of our population and infrastructure against long-range ballistic missiles”.

He continued: “With this strategic capability, which is unique among our European partners, we secure our central role at the heart of Europe.”

European countries are becoming apprehensive about Russia expanding its war on Ukraine, with German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul recently warning that according to their intelligence assessments “at the very least, Russia is creating the option for itself to wage war against Nato by 2029”.

Israel and Germany struck a deal to acquire the system in June 2023, which was approved by the USA that August, and the agreement was signed formally a month later.

The USA has delivered more than $1.2 billion of funding to Israel for the Arrow 3 project since 2008.

Arrow 3 is an “exoatmospheric” anti-ballistic missile system, which means that it intercepts missiles when they are in space.

To this end, the interception of the Houthi missile in October 2023 was considered to be the first ever instance of space warfare.

This is not the first Israeli defence system to be shared with allies in Europe. Last month, the Israel TROPHY active protection system for tanks was rolled out to the German and Norwegian armed forces.