Israel's arms industry thrives on genocide and the world keeps buying

From Germany to Saudi Arabia, states are fuelling Israel's war economy by buying weapons and surveillance tools battle-tested on Palestinians in Gaza

Demonstrators hold a banner reading 'Stop the arms trade with Israel' during a rally in support of the Palestinian people in Toulouse, southwestern France, on 11 September 2024 (Lionel Bonaventure/AFP)

Demonstrators hold a banner reading 'Stop the arms trade with Israel' during a rally in support of the Palestinian people in Toulouse, southwestern France, on 11 September 2024 (Lionel Bonaventure/AFP)

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While anybody with a shred of humanity is outraged by Israel's campaign of mass starvation and death in Gaza, Germany has other priorities. It recently agreed to purchase a missile defence system from Israel's largest arms company, Elbit, for $260m.

Nothing to see here. Just business as usual with a state that Israel's own leading human rights organisations say is committing genocide.

Israel's arms and surveillance industries are thriving because of its violence in Gaza, the West Bank and beyond. It is a major selling point. Occupation is big business. The latest available figures, from 2024, show record sales of $14.8bn.

Numbers for 2025 are likely to be even higher, fuelled by huge global demand for the arms, drones, surveillance and AI tools that Israel has deployed in Gaza.

Genocide is no impediment to Israel promoting itself as the ultimate "battle-tested" entity. Far too many democratic and autocratic states are listening, learning and buying. Big Tech is up to its neck with the Israeli army - looking at you, Microsoft, Amazon and Google, among many others.

I have spent more than a decade investigating the Israeli military-industrial complex. While it is an exaggeration to argue that Israel's endless occupation and war crimes exist solely to boost defence sales, there is no question that the money made from the war economy significantly strengthens Israel's bottom line.

It is a point rightly stressed by Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur for the West Bank and Gaza, in her recent report, From Economy of Occupation to Economy of Genocide, where she names and shames the corporations profiting from Israeli actions. (Albanese regularly references my latest book, The Palestine Laboratory, in explaining the rationale for Israel's geopolitical posture.)

Indian alliance

Who is buying all these Israeli weapons?

India's attack on Pakistan is a declaration of Israel-style expansionism

A recent headline in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz details one key relationship central to Israel's defence strategy: "Why the future of Israeli defence lies in India." The report explains how many Indian and Israeli arms companies are now established business partners, with Israeli firms building factories in India.

One anonymous Israeli source told the paper: "The Israeli defence industry has become, if not a subsidiary of the Indian defence industry, at least its full partner."

Indian-made drones have been used in Gaza since 7 October 2023, and the Modi government in New Delhi deployed Israeli drones in its brief war with Pakistan in April.

The Indian-Israeli relationship is fuelled by money, but it is also ideological, with both Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu embracing ethnonationalism and persecuting Muslims.

It is a marriage of convenience - and racism - between Hindu fundamentalism and Zionist supremacy.

Europe was the biggest purchaser of Israeli arms in 2024, accounting for 54 percent of total exports. Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 pushed many European nations towards Israeli weapons and missile defence systems. This reliance partly explains the European Union's reluctance to even partially cut ties with Israel nearly two years into its onslaught in Gaza.

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The Israeli arms industry is the ultimate insurance policy for a Jewish supremacist state that knows how many others depend on it. It has a dark history of partnering with some of the most brutal regimes since World War Two - including some that are openly antisemitic.

I estimate that Israel has sold weapons or surveillance equipment to at least 140 countries in the past few decades.

Arab complicity

It is bad enough that many western nations embrace Israeli militarism, but too many Arab states - including Bahrain, Morocco, the UAE and Saudi Arabia - continue to do business with Israel. There is no true solidarity or tangible support for their fellow Arabs, the Palestinians. Instead, many Arab elites crave "normalisation" with the government in Tel Aviv.

These Arab dictatorships fear their own people - an Arab Spring 2.0 - and purchase battle-tested Israeli surveillance tech to entrench their rule.

According to a new book on Saudi ruler Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), journalist Karen Elliott House explains: "He [MBS] has this vision of Israel and Saudi Arabia as the two big powers [in the region] working hand in hand. It won't be easy until there's some resolution in Gaza, but Saudis who know him well will tell you he can't allow Saudi interests to be forever retarded by the Palestinians."

It is clarifying to know that one of the Muslim world's most powerful autocrats regards the Palestinians as a distraction at best and a pest at worst. Just imagine what MBS could do for them if he demanded that Israel stop its genocide in Gaza. Instead, he appears to wish they would disappear - a view strikingly similar to Israel's own.

Ending the trade

The only way to truly stop the Israeli arms juggernaut is for nations to stop buying.

The only way to stop the Israeli arms juggernaut is for nations to stop buying

Furthermore, as the recently established Hague Group urges, countries must also stop selling weapons to Israel.

The defence industry is inherently corrupt and dirty, and many states partake in it.

With Israel the eighth-biggest weapons seller in the world and global military spending reaching a record $2.72 trillion in 2024, rejecting militarism and automated killing machines is the least a civilised country can do.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.

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