Senior British military officers visited Israel on Elbit organised tour

A senior British Ministry of Defence (MoD) official visited Israel in a tour organised by Israeli arms firm Elbit Systems, the Times has reported.

The report that Mike Cooper and two other British officers took part in a sightseeing tour organised by the Haifa-based firm emerged as Elbit pitches for a training contract with the British army worth £2bn ($2.7bn).

The visit, which according to The Times sources was funded entirely by Elbit and took place in 2022, also included reviews of Israeli military training procedures, which the firm is responsible for.

According to the paper, an Elbit staff member told colleagues in internal emails that the visit by the British military officials had given the company an "advantage" in securing the contract.

Private Eye reported this week that Elbit Systems UK, the company's British subsidiary, was close to winning the training contract, which would make it an MoD "strategic partner".

Elbit is reportedly bidding against US weapons firm Raytheon for the Army Collective Training Service contract, after the MoD reduced the bidders to two in February.

Elbit is the largest supplier of weapons, including drones, to the Israeli military, which has been waging a genocidal campaign in Gaza since October 2023. Elbit Systems' killer Hermes 450 and 900 drones have been used extensively in attacks on and surveillance missions in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, and Lebanon.

If Elbit wins the contract it will work with the MoD to transform military training "through digitalisation, simulation, a different relationship with industry, and by changing how and where the military trains". 

According to the Times, the visit by Cooper took place long before the official competition process for the contract had started.

In June 2023, an employee at Elbit Systems UK allegedly wrote to Cooper and another British officer, saying: "As you saw when you visited Israel last September, we understand what it takes to be an effective strategic partner, and we remain fully committed to bring this level of success to the army.”

A statement from the MoD to the Times read: "This visit was part of routine engagement with industry and formally declared in the usual way.

"We maintain regular dialogue with defence companies interested in our programmes and ensure any conflicts of interest are managed during our procurement processes.”