{"id":252562,"date":"2025-09-25T02:39:14","date_gmt":"2025-09-25T02:39:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/252562\/"},"modified":"2025-09-25T02:39:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T02:39:14","slug":"israels-arms-sales-are-still-booming-but-pressure-over-its-war-in-gaza-is-exacting-a-cost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/252562\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel\u2019s arms sales are still booming. But pressure over its war in Gaza is exacting a cost"},"content":{"rendered":"

London \u00a0\u2014\u00a0 Israel\u2019s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is preparing his nation for, in his words, a \u201ckind of isolation<\/a>\u201d that could last for years.<\/p>\n

For the first time, the usually intransigent leader conceded last week that international outrage<\/a> over how Israel is waging war in Gaza is turning Israel into a potential pariah. While he subsequently walked back his bleak prognosis, Netanyahu underscored a reality: Israel\u2019s place on the global stage is changing.<\/p>\n

As the annual United Nations General Assembly is held in New York, allies like the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada have recognized a Palestinian state<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The move reflects their exasperation with the Israeli leader, and a potentially existential moment for Israel.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu, meanwhile, is calling on Israel\u2019s arms makers to step up their readiness. \u201cWe will need to strengthen our independent weapons industries so that we have munitions independence, a defense industrial economy, and the industrial capability to produce them,\u201d he said last Monday, speaking at a finance ministry conference.<\/p>\n

Israel and its arms makers have long been viewed as producing cutting-edge weapons technology, and those weapons have been sold to countries around the world. But as international criticism of the war in Gaza grows, Israel risks losing its position in some of those markets.<\/p>\n

Spain, after months of signaling, last week annulled hundreds of millions worth of orders for battlefield weapons made by Israeli companies. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who formally recognized Palestinian statehood in May 2024, called Israel\u2019s war in Gaza \u201cbarbarity\u201d and has called for more punitive action against Israel, including for it to be barred from international sporting competitions and the Eurovision Song Contest.<\/p>\n

Oded Yaron, arms industries and technology reporter at Israel\u2019s left-leaning Haaretz newspaper, has warned that Israel cannot afford for others to follow Sanchez\u2019s lead. \u201cWe don\u2019t have the economy to support it; if we don\u2019t sell it to other countries, it will inevitably lead to damage of Israel\u2019s defense,\u201d he told CNN.<\/p>\n

For now, Netanyahu seems to have time on his side. The Israeli Ministry of Defense reported $14.7 billion in export sales in 2024 \u2013 a 13% increase over the previous year \u2013 with more than half of its defense deals made with European countries.<\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s multibillion dollar arms industry sales are at a record high, in part, Yaron said, because their weaponry is known, \u201cbattle tested, battle proven, and people need it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s past two years of war in Gaza, as well as operations in Lebanon, Iran and Yemen, have helped to solidify the country\u2019s standing as a leading global arms supplier. The Arrow missile interceptor made by Israeli arms manufacturer Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) successfully intercepted Iranian ballistic missiles at high altitude during the 12-day conflict over the summer.<\/p>\n

Israeli-made reactive armor used routinely on Israel Defense Forces (IDF) tanks and battle vehicles inside Gaza has also proved effective. The F-35I-Adir, the Israeli variant of the US origin F-35, is also drawing attention to Israeli-designed \u201cupgrades.\u201d<\/p>\n

At one of the world\u2019s largest arms fairs in London earlier this month, a CNN team witnessed crowds of interested customers lining up to talk to sales teams at some of Israel\u2019s largest defense contractors \u2013 Elbit Systems, IAI, Rafael \u2013 as well as some smaller Israeli weapons makers.<\/p>\n

One salesman at the Defense and Security Equipment International (DSEI) exhibition told CNN that business was \u201cbooming\u201d because customers \u201clike the way Israel protects its people\u201d and buyers \u201cwant that battle-tested hardware.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Yaron warns the boom may be ebbing as political pressure mounts, saying that \u201cas the war in Gaza drags on and on and on, it becomes more and more of a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Outside the London arms fair, dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters, including a nurse who has been to Gaza several times over the course of the war, protested the exhibition and what they alleged as the UK\u2019s \u201ccomplicity in genocide\u201d in allowing Israeli firms to exhibit there.<\/p>\n

Potential arms buyers ushered into the venue behind lines of riot-ready police officers as demonstrators called them \u201cbaby killers\u201d and \u201cmurderers,\u201d with \u201cblood\u201d on their hands.<\/p>\n

The British government has also been taking heat from within its own ranks on the matter.<\/p>\n

Inside parliament, more than two dozen lawmakers \u2013 many of them from the ruling Labour Party \u2013 signed a motion earlier this month calling on the government to rule out awarding any contracts to Elbit Systems UK, which is currently in the running for a 15-year, \u00a32 billion (approximately $2.7 billion) training contract with the UK Ministry of Defence.<\/p>\n

The motion\u2019s primary sponsor, independent lawmaker Brian Leishman, claims Elbit\u2019s involvement with Israel\u2019s F-35 fighter jet program connects the company to \u201cdeath right across Gaza,\u201d which he says carries \u201cglobal reputational, legal and moral consequences\u201d for the British government.<\/p>\n

Last year the British government suspended around 30 arms export sales to Israel but exempted components for F-35 aircraft.<\/p>\n

Israel has 45 F-35s, and has ordered 36 more, according to the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT). The F-35 has been used to drop 2,000-pound bombs on Gaza, including on an Israel-designated humanitarian zone in Al-Mawasi<\/a>, according<\/a> to Danish news outlet Information and Danish NGO Danwatch. The Israeli military was targeting elusive Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Leishman\u2019s motion is the political tip of an anti-war iceberg now further buoyed by young activists and pensioners, as well as sports and pop stars.<\/a><\/p>\n

Against this backdrop, the British government banned<\/a> Israeli government officials from attending the London arms fair, citing concerns over \u201cthe Israeli government\u2019s decision to further escalate its military operation in Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Israeli government slammed the decision, calling it \u201ca deliberate and regrettable act of discrimination\u201d \u2013 but it is facing similar moves from a number of its allies.<\/p>\n

This summer, the French government shut down stands for major Israeli arms companies, including Elbit Systems and Rafael, at the Paris Airshow \u2013 the world\u2019s biggest aviation trade fair \u2013 for refusing to remove attack weapons from display.<\/p>\n

And following Israel\u2019s recent strike on Hamas negotiators\u2019 residence in Doha, Qatar<\/a>, the United Arab Emirates banned the Israeli government and defense companies from their Dubai Airshow, scheduled for November.<\/p>\n

But Yaron cautions that Israel\u2019s arms sales won\u2019t suffer much by crimping access to such shows. Countries need arms, he said, and Israel is prepared for such blocks and will almost always sail through somehow, even if \u201cit might cost them more, there may be more backlash, there may be more problems.\u201d<\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s largest arms manufacturer Elbit Systems signed a 5-year, $1.6 billion contract with an undisclosed European country last month.<\/p>\n

Matthew Savill, director of military science at the London-based Royal United Services Institute think tank, says Israel\u2019s arms sales are protected in other ways too, with Israeli components woven into larger supply chains and Israeli companies setting up entities in customer countries.<\/p>\n

The relationship is even more enmeshed through security and intelligence sharing, Savill said, bonds that won\u2019t be cut easily. \u201cWhilst you have this significant political disagreement over what\u2019s happening at the moment, there will be many in both security systems who would want to avoid too much impact to the direct relationship,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

For now, Israel can afford to keep fighting. The cost, however, is going up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"London \u00a0\u2014\u00a0 Israel\u2019s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is preparing his nation for, in his words, a \u201ckind of…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":252563,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[99,50],"class_list":{"0":"post-252562","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-israel","9":"tag-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115262623804448691","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252562","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252562"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252562\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}