The Spanish State has paid over EUR 1 billion to Israeli military companies since the beginning of the genocide in Gaza
- According to the Centre Delas report, advanced by the media ElDiario.es, in recent months the Spanish Government has made new contracts with Israeli companies. In addition to buying arms, the Spanish State is the fifth country in the world that has sent the most weapons since October of the European Union to Israel.
The Spanish Government’s statements, for its part, have continued to import arms from Israel since 7 October. Public contracts have also been awarded to Israeli security and defence companies, or their subsidiaries in Spain, among others. They have also continued to export arms to Israel. This was explained by Centre Delas d’Estudis per la Pau in a report that, prior to its publication, has been advanced by the media elDiario.es. There, they explained that they have carried out public contracts with Israeli companies worth EUR 1,027 million since 7 October.
The researchers at the Delas Centre stressed that, "despite the seriousness of what Israel has done in the Gaza Strip," military relations between Spain and Israel "have not undergone significant changes" in the last nine months. “The arms trade between Spain and Israel has not ceased despite the genocide in Gaza.”
According to the authors of the report, in any case elDiario.es, “the two countries have maintained bilateral cooperation on intelligence and security” and “Israel has been able to use Spanish territory, with one exception, to send weapons from other countries”. The Spanish Government has therefore not decreed the arms embargo requested by the UN rapporteur.
The words of Pedro Sánchez, in doubt
The Spanish Government has reported that it has not granted any new licence for the sale of military material to Israel since October 2023, but, according to URL1, it has not suspended existing licences and exports have been maintained. According to the media, the Spanish State is the fifth country in the European Union with the most arms and ammunition sold, only behind the Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia and Italy, among others.
The researchers at the Delas Centre have denied the words of the Spanish Head of Government, as reported by the Civil Guard Journal. In April, Sánchez said in the Congress of Deputies that “since 7 October Spain has not carried out any arms sales operation with Israel, none.” The report notes that “[what the president said] was a lapsus or not, it was not true, because in November and December munitions were exported and Spain has not stopped collecting weapons from Israeli companies”.
One of these Israeli companies is Elbit Systems, a private company closely linked to the Israeli Army. The Basque institutions, the Basque Government and the Deputies, have also been related to the company Elbit Systems, through the Tecnalia and Tekniker research centres.
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