International Justice decision prohibits an Israeli company from cooperating with Japan

The decision of the International Court of Justice has economic consequences that are expected to appear more during the coming period (Al Jazeera)

In the next three weeks, the Japanese company Itochu will end its cooperation with the Israeli company “Elbit Systems” for defense electronics, against the backdrop of judicial moves against Israel in the International Court of Justice in The Hague, which deprives it of a foothold in the Japanese army, at a time when it has begun a broad modernization plan, According to what was reported by the Hebrew economic website Calcalist.

Obstructing plans

According to the Israeli website, suing Israel in the International Court may hinder the plans of Elbit Systems - run by Michael Federman - to position itself well in the Japanese market.

Last March, Itochu, one of the major trading companies in Japan, signed a memorandum of understanding with Elbit Systems for industrial cooperation on the basis of which the Israeli company would transfer technical knowledge to Japan, allowing the establishment of production lines for some of its systems and products and making them available to the Japanese army.

The Japanese army began a broad modernization plan for its military systems against the backdrop of the Russian-Ukrainian war and the ongoing tension with China.

Elbit Systems' sales increased by 27% in the first three quarters of last year compared to the corresponding period last year to $4.3 billion.

The Israeli company was hoping to gain a foothold in Japan - a market that promises significant growth - in preparation for major modernization plans in the Japanese military.

Court decision

Last month, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to prevent acts of genocide against the Palestinians and demanded that it make more efforts to help civilians, but it did not reach the point of ordering a ceasefire as requested by South Africa, which filed the lawsuit.

Although the decision dashed Palestinian hopes of issuing a binding order to stop the war in Gaza, it was a legal setback for Israel, which had hoped to drop the case brought under the Genocide Convention.

The court concluded that there was a case to be heard about the extent to which Palestinians were deprived of their rights in a war that the court said had caused serious humanitarian harm.

Source: Israeli press + Reuters