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FRANCE: 'Defying Rules on Arms Sales to Israel'
By David Cronin
BRUSSELS, May 29 (IPS) - French arms sales to Israel are "in total contradiction" of European Union rules
on the defence industry, the author of a new study has said.
Between 2003 and 2007 France issued licences worth more than 446 million
euros (623 million dollars) for arms exports to Israel. This made France by far
the largest supplier of weapons to Israel in the EU.
Patrice Bouveret from the French Centre for Research on Peace and Conflicts
(CRDPC) in Lyon says that these sales are at variance with the Union's
decade-old code of conduct on weapons exports. Formally declared legally
binding by EU governments last year, the code forbids weapons sales in cases
where they may exacerbate regional tensions or where there is a strong
likelihood they will be used in violation of human rights.
Speaking at the launch Thursday of his new report on Israel's involvement in
the arms trade, titled 'Who Arms Israel and Hamas?', Bouveret dismissed
repeated assurances from the French government that the exports in
question are generally only components of military goods rather than
complete weapons systems. "Even if they are only components, they are used
directly by the Israeli army," he added.
According to the results of an Amnesty International investigation published
in February, electrical components with 'Made in France' written on them
were found in the wreckage of buildings destroyed by the Israeli army during
the offensive it launched on Gaza late last year. The components were part of
Hellfire AGM missiles manufactured by the U.S. company Hellfire Systems, a
joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Boeing.
Bouveret also argued that Israel is eager to bolster its military cooperation
with Europe in order to reduce its traditional reliance on the U.S.
Since a seven-year embargo on weapons sales to Israel was lifted by the
French government in 1974, Israel has turned to France to buy lasers and
specialised equipment for reconnaissance which it has been unable to obtain
from the U.S.
The overall value of licences awarded by EU governments for arms sales to
Israel amounted to 846 million euros between 2003 and 2007. After France,
the largest exports came from Germany, Britain, Belgium, Poland, Romania
and the Czech Republic.
Ten of the Union's 27 member states officially state, however, that they do
not sell any weapons to Israel. These include Portugal, Ireland, Finland and
Denmark.
Caroline Pailhe from GRIP, a Belgian organisation that monitors the arms
trade, said at the launch of the report in Brussels Thursday that Israel's attack
on Lebanon in the summer of 2006 appeared to have had "no net influence"
on defence exports to Israel. At 127 million euros the value of licences
approved by EU countries for 2006 fell from 145 million euros the previous
year. But it then climbed to 199 million euros in 2007.
Israel is becoming an increasingly important player in the global defence
industry. It is both the sixth largest arms importer and the fourth largest
exporter. Last year appears to have been a record year for its industry. In the
first six months, Israel sold 5.3 billion dollars worth of arms abroad,
compared to 4.7 billion dollars for the entire 2007, according to the France-
Israel Chamber of Commerce.
The development of this industry has been heavily subsidised by the U.S. In
the 1951-2006 period, the U.S. has provided Israel 162 billion dollars. In
contrast, sub-Saharan Africa, the world's poorest region, has received just 88
billion dollars.
About 75 percent of bilateral U.S. aid to Israel has been channelled via two
programmes: Foreign Military Financing, which funds the sale of U.S.
weapons, and the Economic Support Fund, which allocates subsidies to
strategic allies.
Gerald Loftus, a former U.S. diplomat, says he expects President Barack
Obama not to reduce the size of aid to Israel.
But Leila Shahid, the Palestinian Authority's chief representative in Brussels,
draws a distinction between the tone of the foreign policy advocated by
Obama and that pursued by his predecessor George W. Bush. "Fear was the
leitmotiv of all the policies of President Bush," she said at the launch of the
report. "He exploited fear against Islam and fear of a clash of civilisations.
Obama has rejected the idea of manipulating fear."
Meanwhile, former speaker of the Israeli Knesset Colette Avital has criticised
the restrictions placed by her government on supplies of goods to Gaza.
Pharmacists in Gaza say they are unable to sell treatment for head-lice in
children, or sell knee braces for people with leg injuries, and a variety of
medicines because Israel will not allow such items to be transported into the
strip. Books and newspapers have also been prevented from entering Gaza.
Avital, a leading member of the Israeli Labour Party, told IPS that she would
be in favour of ensuring that material which may be used as explosives is
prevented from entering Gaza but that denying access to goods that are
commonly available elsewhere is "counterproductive".
"I don't see the purpose of not allowing in certain items that are not
destructive," she said during a visit to Brussels this week. "Books and
medicines have to go in." (END/2009)
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