Western countries that sell arms to Israel may be forced to reevaluate their trade deals after the arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister Yoav Gallant for ” war crimes” and “crimes against Israel”. against humanity” in Gaza, experts say.
The arrest warrants come amid Israel’s continued bombing and military campaign in the Gaza Strip, where more than 44,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 7, 2023, according to health officials.
The 124 countries that are signatories to the ICC’s Rome Statute are now legally bound to arrest Netanyahu and Gallant if they set foot on their territory.
Whether countries supplying weapons to a country whose leaders are accused of crimes against humanity could be considered complicit is unclear, but experts say some suppliers will have to think carefully whether they want to continue to support Israel in its war against Gaza.
Which countries supply weapons to Israel?
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) estimates that between 2019 and 2023, Israel was the 15th largest arms importer in the world.
The United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, France and Spain export weapons to Israel.
A United Nations report released on February 23, 2024 indicates that Canada and Australia have also exported weapons to Israel.
United States
Israel imported 69% of its weapons from the United States between 2019 and 2023, according to SIPRI. The principle of guaranteeing Israel a “qualitative military advantage” was enshrined in US law in 2008.
After October 7, 2023, when Israel began its continued attack on the Gaza Strip following a Hamas-led attack on villages and military outposts in southern Israel, the United States further accelerated the transfer of weapons to Israel. Last month, Washington announced it would send its advanced Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system to Israel, along with American soldiers who would operate the system.
The US Senate on Wednesday rejected an initiative led by independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders to block a series of planned arms sales to Israel. Sanders introduced the bill against a $20 billion arms deal that had been approved by President Joe Biden’s administration.
So far, the United States, which is not a signatory to the ICC’s Rome Statute, has shown no signs of wanting to reduce or stop arms going to Israel. “We fundamentally reject the court’s decision to issue arrest warrants against senior Israeli officials,” White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters. This sentiment was shared by many politicians of both parties in the United States.
Germany
SIPRI estimates that weapons sent by Germany constitute 30% of Israel’s arms imports, a tenfold increase in 2023 compared to 2022. Germany mainly sends naval equipment to Israel, including frigates and torpedoes.
In March, Nicaragua filed a complaint with the International Court of Justice (ICJ), asking the Court to order Germany to immediately stop exporting arms to Israel because “this aid is being used or could be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of genocide.” Convention, international humanitarian law or other peremptory norms of general international law.”
On April 30, the court rejected the request, finding that the monetary value of the weapons for which Germany had granted export licenses had decreased. In June, several Palestinians in Gaza filed petitions with a Berlin administrative court to prevent the German government from exporting weapons. These requests were also rejected.
In September, a spokesperson for the German Ministry of Economic Affairs said: “There is no German boycott of arms exports against Israel. »
United Kingdom
SIPRI data shows that although the UK has not supplied major weapons to Israel since the 1970s, it has supplied components for various systems such as the F-35 fighter jet.
“No military or lethal equipment has been supplied to Israel by the UK government since December 4, 2023,” Leo Docherty, then Minister of State for the Armed Forces, told Parliament in April 2024.
Official export permit data from June 2024 showed that 108 licenses, of which Israel was listed as a beneficiary, had been approved since October 7, 2023.
In September this year, the UK suspended 30 licenses out of a total of 350. These 30 related to weapons which the UK claimed were used in military operations in Gaza.
What other countries restricted arms sales during the war?
France
According to SIPRI data, France did not send weapons to Israel between 2019 and 2023, and the last time it sent weapons was in 1998.
France, however, supplies components used to make weapons.
In June, the French investigative website Disclose revealed that France had sent electronic equipment for drones suspected of being used to bomb civilians in Gaza.
In October, French President Emmanuel Macron told French media: “I think that today the priority is that we return to a political solution, that we stop delivering weapons to fight in Gaza. » He added: “France is not delivering any.”
Italy
SIPRI estimates that Italian arms sent to Israel accounted for 0.9% of Israel’s arms imports between 2019 and 2023. Italy mainly sent light helicopters and naval guns.
The Italian government has repeatedly assured that Italy has not sent weapons to Israel since the start of the war.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told the Italian Senate in October this year: “The government immediately suspended all new export licenses and all agreements signed after October 7 (2023) have not been implemented. »
However, in March this year, Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said that despite these assurances, Italy had sent weapons to Israel.
Crosetto said these were weapons for which orders were signed before October 7.
Independent Italian media outlet Altreconomia analyzed data from statistics agency ISTAT and reported that Italy sent 2.1 million euros ($2.2 million) worth of arms and ammunition to Israel over the past of the last three months of 2023.
Spain
The Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation issued a press release in February 2024 stating that arms sales to Israel were no longer authorized as of October 7, 2023.
Euronews reported that Spanish investigative journalists discovered that in November 2023, munitions worth 987,000 euros ($1.03 million) were sent to Israel under a license approved before October 7, 2023 .
Canada
In February this year, Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said Canada would cease all arms shipments to Israel.
However, activists claimed that Canada was instead sending weapons to Israel via the United States.
In September, Joly said Canada had suspended 30 permits to sell arms to Israel. It is unclear how many permits exist in total.
Joly added that Canada canceled a contract with an American company that would sell weapons manufactured in Quebec to Israel.
Belgium, Japanese company
Belgium and a Japanese company also suspended arms exports to Israel.
How could ICC arrest warrants affect arms sales to Israel?
By issuing arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant, linked to war crimes and crimes against humanity, “the ICC has also made a certain demand on Western countries, both in North America and throughout the Europe,” said Neve Gordon, professor of international law at Queen Mary. ” University of London told Tel Aviv Tribune.
“And it has to do with the type of trade agreements they have with Israel – first and foremost in arms trade. »
He added: “If Israeli leaders are accused of crimes against humanity, this means that weapons supplied by Western nations are being used to commit crimes against humanity. »
The ICC’s decision could therefore lead to more Western countries imposing embargoes on arms exports to Israel, said Eran Shamir-Borer, director of the Center for National Security and Democracy at the Israel Institute of Justice. democracy, to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. Shamir-Borer was formerly in the Israeli army.
Most countries have an arms trade memorandum that defines the conditions under which weapons can be traded, Gordon said.
In each memorandum, a provision clearly states that the country “may not send weapons to an entity that uses these weapons to commit serious violations of international humanitarian law such as the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the Additional Protocols of 1977 “.
According to him, until now, many countries have ignored these provisions or only slightly limited the types of weapons they send.
However, now that the arrest warrants have been issued, these countries could also be considered complicit in war crimes and crimes against humanity.
“I assume that NGOs from these countries will file petitions in national courts to question the legality of continuing to send weapons to Israel.
“Even before the ICC decision, Spain, the UK and France were limiting the weapons they send, but I now think it is possible that they will be forced to restrict these weapons further.”
