Europe's weapons deals with Israel reward genocide

Elbit Systems UK tries to hide the fact that it is part of Israel’s weapons industry. (Palestine Action)

Are weapons makers active in Europe deliberately avoiding the word “Israel?”

Germany’s Diehl Defence recently announced it had signed a “teaming agreement” on rocket artillery ammunition with Elbit Systems. The announcement did not mention that Elbit is an Israeli firm.

Two days earlier Elbit Systems UK issued a statement about how it had “successfully completed” a “critical design review” on providing new equipment to the British Army. The statement celebrated how the equipment will allow troops to “identify targets with high accuracy” and support “hundreds of jobs across the UK.”

The inference that Elbit Systems UK is as British as cucumber sandwiches is dishonest. It is a subsidiary of Israel’s Elbit Systems – though the statement did not include that salient fact.

Such omissions are telling.

After almost a year of a genocidal onslaught against Gaza and with Lebanon now under bombardment, the arms trade between Europe and Israel is evidently considered a sensitive matter. Monitoring this blood-stained business remains vital.

By definition, trade is a two-way thing.

Britain and a few other Western countries have reduced but not halted weapons exports to Israel. Imports from and investments by Israel’s arms producers have received less attention.

That is despite how it has long been established that Israel seeks to sell its tools of oppression and occupation abroad.

Record orders

Europe ranks second only to the Israeli military as a destination for Elbit’s products.

The company has been trying to exploit the opportunities afforded by rising military budgets in Europe following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

That can be seen in how Elbit is marketing its so-called “loitering munitions.” During “recent conflicts, such as the Russian-Ukraine war” drones and loitering munitions are “increasingly employed, providing a cost-effective complement to traditional methods,” the company notes.

Rafael, another Israeli weapons maker, is providing Finland – which joined NATO since war broke out in Ukraine – with a “missile defense system.”

Alexander Stubb, the Finnish president, has defended the Rafael contract in the past few weeks by claiming “we need those weapons.”

Poland, the Netherlands and Spain have all inked deals to buy missiles or missile launchers from Rafael over the past 12 months.

Smaller Israeli weapons makers are reportedly clinching quite a few contracts, too.

In March, the BBC reported that the British Army has been issued with new rifle scopes made by SmartShooter. The technology “uses artificial intelligence (AI) to shoot drones out of the sky.”

The BBC neglected to point out that SmartShooter is an Israeli company and that its products have been tested on Palestinians.

The new surveillance technology Israel has introduced during the Gaza genocide include the Rooster – a “hybrid robotic drone.”

Robotican, the firm behind the Rooster, has boasted of selling more than 50 “robotic systems” to NATO armies and Israel this year.

The seemingly unquenchable thirst for blood displayed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his colleagues in government has undoubtedly damaged the Israeli economy.

Israel’s weapons companies appear bullish despite the general economic decline.

Some have reported that demand has soared to record levels. Elbit has an order backlog worth more than $21 billion.

As those firms are profiting from genocide, European countries buying Israel’s arms stand accused of rewarding genocide. They must be held accountable for doing so.