<div dir="ltr">
<div class="gmail-top-anchor"></div>
<div id="gmail-toolbar" class="gmail-toolbar-container">
</div><div class="gmail-container" lang="en" dir="ltr">
<div class="gmail-header gmail-reader-header gmail-reader-show-element">
<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/david-cronin/europes-weapons-deals-israel-reward-genocide">electronicintifada.net</a>
<div class="gmail-domain-border"></div>
<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Europe's weapons deals with Israel reward genocide</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits"></div>
<div class="gmail-meta-data">
<div class="gmail-reader-estimated-time" dir="ltr">October 1, 2024<br></div>
</div>
</div>
<hr>
<div class="gmail-content">
<div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><div>
<span>
<img src="https://electronicintifada.net/sites/default/files/styles/original_800w/public/2024-09/image15.jpg?itok=JCsBghQk×tamp=1727678352" width="394" height="252" alt="" title="" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" style="margin-right: 25px;">
</span>
<p>Elbit Systems UK tries to hide the fact that it is part of Israel’s weapons industry. (Palestine Action) </p>
<p>Are weapons makers active in Europe deliberately avoiding the word “Israel?”</p>
<p>Germany’s Diehl Defence recently <a href="https://www.diehl.com/defence/en/press-and-media/news/diehl-defence-and-elbit-systems-land-announce-rocket-artillery-ammunition-cooperation/">announced</a>
it had signed a “teaming agreement” on rocket artillery ammunition with
Elbit Systems. The announcement did not mention that Elbit is an
Israeli firm.</p>
<p>Two days earlier Elbit Systems UK <a href="https://www.elbitsystems-uk.com/media-events/recent-news/elbit-systems-uk-completes-critical-design-review-for-the-dismounted-joint-fires-integrator-d-jfi-programme">issued</a>
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.”</p>
<p>The inference that Elbit Systems UK is as British as cucumber sandwiches is dishonest. It is a <a href="https://electronicintifada.net/content/why-were-laying-siege-israeli-weapons-plant/37506">subsidiary</a> of Israel’s Elbit Systems – though the statement did not include that salient fact.</p>
<p>Such omissions are telling.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>By definition, trade is a two-way thing.</p>
<p>Britain and a few other Western countries have <a href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/asa-winstanley/token-cut-british-arms-exports-smokescreen-aiding-genocide">reduced</a> but <a href="https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/eu-turning-blind-eye-to-members-arms-trade-with-tel-aviv-expert/3267834">not halted</a> weapons exports to Israel. Imports from and investments by Israel’s arms producers have received less attention.</p>
<p>That is despite how it has long been established that Israel seeks to sell its tools of oppression and occupation abroad.</p>
<h2>Record orders</h2>
<p>Europe ranks <a href="https://mayafiles.tase.co.il/rpdf/1610001-1611000/P1610588-00.pdf">second</a> only to the Israeli military as a destination for Elbit’s products.</p>
<p>The company has been trying to exploit the opportunities afforded by <a href="https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/econographics/whos-at-2-percent-look-how-nato-allies-have-increased-their-defense-spending-since-russias-invasion-of-ukraine/">rising military budgets</a> in Europe following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.</p>
<p>That can be seen in how Elbit is marketing its so-called “<a href="https://x.com/ElbitSystemsLtd/status/1838443340494188633">loitering munitions</a>.”
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 <a href="https://elbitsystems.com/blog/sensor-to-shooter-flies-like-a-uas-strikes-like-a-missile/">notes</a>.</p>
<p>Rafael, another Israeli weapons maker, is <a href="https://www.rafael.co.il/news/rafael-completes-sale-of-davids-sling-to-finland/">providing</a> Finland – which <a href="https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news_213448.htm">joined</a> NATO since war broke out in Ukraine – with a “missile defense system.”</p>
<p>Alexander Stubb, the Finnish president, has defended the Rafael contract in the past few weeks by <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/finlands-president-defends-decisions-buy-israeli-arms-not-recognise-palestinian-2024-09-18/">claiming</a> “we need those weapons.”</p>
<p><a href="https://www.israeldefense.co.il/en/node/62529">Poland</a>, the <a href="https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2024/09/04/netherlands-picks-israels-rafael-to-supply-upgraded-anti-tank-systems/">Netherlands</a> and <a href="https://www.israeldefense.co.il/en/node/62965">Spain</a> have all inked deals to buy missiles or missile launchers from Rafael over the past 12 months.</p>
<p>Smaller Israeli weapons makers are reportedly clinching quite a few contracts, too.</p>
<p>In March, the BBC <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-essex-68484830">reported</a>
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.”</p>
<p>The BBC neglected to point out that SmartShooter is an Israeli company and that its products have been <a href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/david-cronin/israels-one-shot-one-hit-weapons-go-display-paris">tested</a> on Palestinians.</p>
<p>The new surveillance technology Israel has <a href="https://www.israeldefense.co.il/en/node/60981">introduced</a> during the Gaza genocide include the Rooster – a “hybrid robotic drone.”</p>
<p>Robotican, the firm behind the Rooster, has <a href="https://robotican.net/pressnews/">boasted</a> of selling more than 50 “robotic systems” to NATO armies and Israel this year.</p>
<p>The seemingly unquenchable thirst for blood displayed by Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his colleagues in government has
undoubtedly <a href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/david-cronin/why-eu-still-teaming-israels-tech-firms">damaged</a> the Israeli economy.</p>
<p>Israel’s weapons companies appear bullish despite the general economic decline.</p>
<p>Some have reported that <a href="https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-elbit-reports-record-orders-but-negative-cash-flow-1001479831">demand</a> has soared to record levels. Elbit has an <a href="https://mayafiles.tase.co.il/rpdf/1610001-1611000/P1610588-00.pdf">order backlog</a> worth more than $21 billion.</p>
<p>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.</p><br>
</div></div></div>
</div>
<div>
</div>
<div></div>
</div>
</div>