N. Peter Kramer’s Weekly Column
The stands of several Israeli exhibitors have been kept from view, without any communication in advance. A representative of Rafael, which makes Israel’s Iron Dome, informed journalists that France had politicised the company’s present.
The question is, will the sneaky French government proceeding seriously damage the Israeli arms industry. Most probably not. Israel exported a record amount of 13 billion euros worth of weapons in 2024. More than half of them ended up in EU countries that are fully arming themselves against Russia. In 2023 those exports amounted to 11.2 billion euros; compared to five years ago, the number has doubled.
Europe is Israel’s main arms customer. Last year 54 per cent of exports ended up in European countries, in 2023 it was still 35 per cent. An inventory by the well-known Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) shows that at least 17 EU member states have ordered weapons from Israel in the past four years.
In many cases missile systems, anti-tank-missiles, long-range missiles and anti-aircraft-missiles. But also systems for a missile-shield are in demand. The German purchase of the Arrow missile shield in 2023 is Israel’s most expensive contract: 3.7 billion euros. Finland appears to be one of the largest European buyers of Israeli weapons. These purchases were criticised because Finland decided not (yet) to recognise the Palestinian state. Other Scandinavian countries as Sweden, Norway and Iceland did recognise the by Hamas ruled Palestinian state.
It is also striking that some Arab countries are buying weapons from Israel, such as Bahrain, Morocco and the Unted Arab Emirates. Together, they account for 12 percent of the export, an increase of 9 percent.
Spain is the only EU member state that cancelled orders from Israel, however it was one of Israel’s most important customers until 2023. It will not really worry Israel, that doubtlessly with great interest is following the ‘NATO 5 per cent discussion’.
