Le Monde: Who are the main arms suppliers to Israel?

Highlights: Le Monde: Who are the main arms suppliers to Israel?. The French newspaper Le Monde said that the United States was and still is the main supplier of weapons to Israel, followed by Germany. As for France, it says that it only supplies Tel Aviv with what it needs “to ensure its own defense” The issue of arms exports to Israel has never been this highly sensitive, especially for the U.S., the newspaper said. After the attack of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on October 7, 2023, Israel initially received almost unconditional support.

The French newspaper Le Monde said that Washington was and still is the main supplier of weapons to Israel, followed by Germany, while countries such as Italy and Spain have stopped delivering weapons to Tel Aviv.

An American plane carrying a shipment of military aid to Israel (Anatolia)

The French newspaper Le Monde said that the United States was and still is the main supplier of weapons to Israel, followed by Germany, while countries such as Italy and Spain have stopped delivering weapons to Tel Aviv. As for France, it says that it only supplies Tel Aviv with what it needs “to ensure its own defense.”

The newspaper explained - in a report written by Jean-Philippe Leviev - that the issue of arms exports to Israel has never been this highly sensitive, especially for the United States, which has made Israel’s security a supreme interest of the state, and is the largest arms supplier to it ever, just like Germany, which occupies Israel. Second place after that.

After the attack of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on October 7, 2023, Israel initially received almost unconditional support, but it gradually began to fade as civilian casualties increased and accumulated in the Gaza Strip.

Following the order issued by the International Court of Justice on January 26, which ordered Israel “to refrain from committing acts that fall within the scope of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide,” tension arose between arms suppliers to Israel and part of their public opinion, which prompted countries Many countries, such as Spain and Italy, have decided to suspend their military exports to Tel Aviv.

United State

Israel is the largest recipient of US foreign aid since World War II, and to date, Washington has provided it with $158 billion in bilateral aid and funding for the Iron Dome anti-aircraft device, the writer says.

Since the 1960s, the American administration has been keen to ensure that its ally obtains “qualitative military superiority,” and 69% of weapons imported into Israel between 2013 and 2022 came from the United States - according to the Stockholm Institute - and is partly funded by Washington’s annual military aid to Tel Aviv. Aviv, amounting to $3.3 billion, with half a billion for cooperation in the field of air defense.

In late October, US President Joe Biden asked Congress to approve additional arms sales to Israel worth $14.3 billion as part of a “package” that includes aid to Ukraine and Taiwan.

According to the Times of Israel newspaper, Washington delivered to Israel a load of 250 cargo planes and about 20 ships, at the end of January, meaning about 10,000 tons of weapons and military equipment, the nature of which is unknown.

In addition, the United States allows the Israeli army to rely on the arsenal it stores in Israel, and the “national emergency” declared by Biden after October 7 allowed the White House to dispense with the parliamentary step to supply the Israeli army with ammunition.

Germany

Federal Germany remained the second supplier to Israel, providing it with 30% of its arms imports between 2013 and 2022 - according to the Stockholm Institute - but delivery permits increased 10-fold between 2022 and 2023, and most of this increase occurred after October 7, and its value amounted to 326 million euros last year, according to the German Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Protection.

Italy

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani announced on January 21 that Italy had stopped delivering weapons to Israel following October 7, after its exports from it represented 5.9% between 2011 and 2020, making it the third supplier, according to an analysis of Stockholm Institute data. .

United kingdom

In 2023, the British government approved the export of military goods worth £42 million to Israel, the same amount as the previous year, and then Defense Secretary Grant Shapps described the matter as “relatively modest”, and information regarding the licenses granted has not been sent since 7 October. October 2023.

The British government has approved exports worth £146 million to Israel between 2018 and 2022, but this amount does not take into account materials supplied under “open” licences, which place no limits on the quantity or value of deliveries, the Campaign Against Arms Trade asserts. In Britain.

France

For its part, France, which in 2023 became the second largest arms exporter in the world instead of Russia, confirms that it does not supply “lethal” weapons to Israel, but provides Tel Aviv only with what it needs to “ensure self-defense,” according to what was stated in the annual report on exports. Weapons from the Ministry of the Armed Forces in July 2023.

Like 113 other countries, including all European Union countries, France has ratified the Arms Trade Treaty, which prohibits any country from selling weapons if it has “knowledge that these weapons or goods could be used to commit genocide, crimes” against humanity, or human rights violations. serious violations of the Geneva Conventions of 1949, attacks against civilians or civilian objects protected as such, or other war crimes, a ruling that has particular resonance since the order of the International Court of Justice.

The newspaper indicated that we must wait for the publication of the next annual report on arms exports in the summer of 2024, in order to obtain a more accurate idea of the nature and volume of weapons supplied to Israel in 2023, noting that France confirmed that it “scrupulously respects its international obligations in its arms exports to Israel.”

Canada

Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Jolie announced on March 19 that Canada would stop supplying weapons to Israel, a day after Parliament adopted a non-binding motion in favor of an “immediate ceasefire” asking the government to “stop approving the transfer of weapons to Israel.”

Spain

Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albarez confirmed on December 5 that “since October 7, 2023, there has been no arms sale to Israel,” and Spain had delivered ammunition worth approximately one million euros to Israel, on the basis of “licenses granted before October 7.” /October,” and also allowed the export of defense equipment worth 44 million euros to Israel in the first half of 2023, according to the Ministry of Economy.

Holland

The Court of Appeal in The Hague ordered the Dutch government on February 12 to stop exporting to Israel components of the F-35 aircraft stored on its soil, and considered that there was a “clear danger” that the F-35 aircraft used by Israel would allow “serious violations of humanitarian law.” " in Gaza.

Source: Le Monde