Washington is asking Israel to explain why its agriculture minister gave a drone to Russia’s prime minister that may contain sensitive US technology and information – and apparently wasn’t his to give away in the first place, Haaretz reported.https://www.rt.com/news/367220-us-israel-medvedev-drone/It must have seemed like a kind gesture from Israeli Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel at the time, as he offered Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev a drone in which the Russian leader had expressed interest. After all, footage broadcast on Israeli television showed Medvedev with a wide-eyed grin as he piloted the unmanned aerial vehicle during a visit to Israeli’s Volcani research institute last week.
However, that gesture of goodwill has since been questioned by Washington, as the drone may have contained confidential US technology, Haaretz reported. Such technology is typically used by Israel under license and cannot be transferred to a third party without permission.
In addition, Russia is under US sanctions due to its alleged role in the Ukraine crisis, and is therefore banned from receiving advanced civilian technology that could have dual military and civilian use.
The Israeli defense ministry is expected to provide a full response to the US embassy in coming days.
Topic: US curious why Israeli minister gave $50K dual-usage drone to Russia (Read 604 times)