Gaza: a testing ground for Israeli military technology#GazaUnderAttack
Mid East Eye - Shir Hever
Friday 15 August 2014 19:12 BST
Commercial considerations of the arms industry play a key role in Israel’s
policies towards the Gaza Strip
Israel may be a relatively small state, but it is the largest per-capita weapons exporter in the world.
The Israeli arms companies have the advantage in marketing their products around
the world, because they can claim that their products have been tested in actual combat.
Senior officers of the Israeli army often pursue a second career in the arms
industry after retiring from service, and as soldiers they already have the
opportunity to perform valuable services to their future employers, by testing
weapon systems developed by the arms companies, by convincing the Israeli
government and public of the necessity of such technologies for military
victory, and by offering praise to the companies producing these
weapons.
Trade fairs for military technology and for homeland security equipment are
commonplace in Israel, especially after each round of bombardment and/or
invasion of Gaza. The advertising line repeated by the companies in these
trading fairs to promote their wares is that “the IDF already uses that
technology.”
The Israeli arms industry operates in close cooperation with its bigger
sister in the US. The military aid the US gives to Israel ensures this
cooperation, and every conflict in the Middle East contributes more to the profits of US arms giants (such as
Boeing, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, and Raytheon) than to the Israeli
arms companies.
Gaza the Soft Target
Wars have a civilian cost and most sectors of the Israeli economy, which are
not directly tied to the arms sector, suffer from the constant conflict in which
Israel is embroiled. The struggle of the distribution of the limited public
resources has intensified over the years, and while the Ministry of Defense
continues to demand a growing share of the pie, the general public is frustrated
with stagnant or even a decreasing standard of living. This discontent has
reached a peak with the social protests of the summers of 2011 and 2012. Yet
every call in Israel to cut the defense budget has been silenced with violence,
violence against Palestinians or against the Lebanese. When the winds of war
blow, all talk about cutting the defense budget falls silent.
After the 2006 war against Lebanon, which was a humiliation for the Israeli
army, the Israeli government sought to focus its aggression on the Gaza Strip.
Gaza is small, contained and densely populated, and did not have the ability to
defend itself in comparison to Hezbollah’s ability to defend Lebanon in
2006.
Since then, a clear pattern emerged, according to which the Israeli army
launches an attack against Gaza every 2 years. The army thus successfully
avoided budget cuts, arm companies increased their profits, and by 2012 the
Israeli weapons exports have reached a peak of US $ 7 billion.
Not so soft anymore
In the previous attack of November 2012 “operation Pillar of Defense,” the
star of the show was the “Iron Dome” anti-rocket system. The Iron Dome missiles,
which cost US $ 50-100 thousand each, intercepted the makeshift rockets from
Gaza which cost little more than US $ 1,000 to make. Nevertheless, the system successfully
allowed Israelis to continue in their daily routines while defenseless people in
Gaza are killed at a whim, an achievement which seems attractive to many
governments and armies around the world. Their demand for Israeli weapons
depends on such asymmetrical warfare. The Hamas party in Gaza understands this
fully well and tried to break the cycle. They offered a cease-fire at the very
beginning of the Israeli attack, offering a 10-year cessation of attacks against
Israel, in exchange for lifting the siege. This seemed to be what the Israeli
government wanted. After all, Israeli justified the siege merely as a protective
measure against Palestinian attacks, but Hamas knew that Israel would never
accept their offer. The Israeli arms industry would lose its edge if it were to
go10 years without testing its weapons.
In the face of widespread destruction in Gaza and almost 2,000 dead, it is
easy to overlook the fact that this war of the summer of 2014 has not been easy
on the Israeli side either. Not only has the war taken a heavy toll on the
Israeli economy, but it has shown that despite Israel’s superior military
technology, it cannot defeat Hamas and cannot achieve its strategic objectives.
The excessive violence which Israeli soldiers used indicates how the image of
“surgical precision” boasted by the companies is of little worth when an entire
population under occupation has every reason to rise up against Israeli
domination, and everyone is a suspect.
Without mechanisms to discipline Israeli soldiers who point their fire at
civilians, Israeli soldiers turn increasingly brutal, and the list of atrocities
grows longer. Any hopes that advanced weaponry would allow Israel to wage a
“clean” war, to avoid political and legal ramifications from mass civilian death
were dashed. Already the UK, Spain and even the U.S have taken steps to distance themselves from
Israel’s arms industry and to increase control of arms shipments to Israel.
Inequality and war profits
Nevertheless, the Israeli economic newspapers have published a series of
articles on the new contracts won by Israeli arms companies and the finance
raised in large-scale bond issue by companies such as Elbit Systems and IAI.
Bezhalel Machlis, CEO of Elbit Systems, mentioned in an
interview that all of Elbit’s products have been used in the current operation
in Gaza. But the Israeli military has not tested Israeli-made weapons in a
conventional war for over forty years. The Israeli army specializes in
asymmetrical warfare, in repression of protest and of guerilla groups.
Therefore, the demand for Israeli arms is highest among governments facing high
inequality and social unrest. It is no coincidence that the largest customers of Israeli arms are India, Brazil and
the US.
In fact, the Gaza Strip becomes more than a laboratory for Israeli
explosives. It is a laboratory for a social experiment in which an entire
population is incarcerated and isolated, controlled from the land, the sea and
the air, and sustained with the assistance of international aid (for which Israel
doesn’t have to pay). Arms companies promise that they have the means to contain
the Palestinian resistance, and keep the population subjugated. But if they are
successful, and keep selling the weapons to other countries, one wonders who the
next subjects of this containment policy will be.
-Shir Hever is a graduate student at the Free
University of Berlin, and an economist with the Alternative Information
Center.
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not
necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.
-
See more at: http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/gaza-testing-ground-israeli-military-technology-628438934#sthash.fe6FwHr9.dpuf
Mid East Eye - Shir Hever
Friday 15 August 2014 19:12 BST
Commercial considerations of the arms industry play a key role in Israel’s
policies towards the Gaza Strip
Israel may be a relatively small state, but it is the largest per-capita weapons exporter in the world.
The Israeli arms companies have the advantage in marketing their products around
the world, because they can claim that their products have been tested in actual combat.
Senior officers of the Israeli army often pursue a second career in the arms
industry after retiring from service, and as soldiers they already have the
opportunity to perform valuable services to their future employers, by testing
weapon systems developed by the arms companies, by convincing the Israeli
government and public of the necessity of such technologies for military
victory, and by offering praise to the companies producing these
weapons.
Trade fairs for military technology and for homeland security equipment are
commonplace in Israel, especially after each round of bombardment and/or
invasion of Gaza. The advertising line repeated by the companies in these
trading fairs to promote their wares is that “the IDF already uses that
technology.”
The Israeli arms industry operates in close cooperation with its bigger
sister in the US. The military aid the US gives to Israel ensures this
cooperation, and every conflict in the Middle East contributes more to the profits of US arms giants (such as
Boeing, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, and Raytheon) than to the Israeli
arms companies.
Gaza the Soft Target
Wars have a civilian cost and most sectors of the Israeli economy, which are
not directly tied to the arms sector, suffer from the constant conflict in which
Israel is embroiled. The struggle of the distribution of the limited public
resources has intensified over the years, and while the Ministry of Defense
continues to demand a growing share of the pie, the general public is frustrated
with stagnant or even a decreasing standard of living. This discontent has
reached a peak with the social protests of the summers of 2011 and 2012. Yet
every call in Israel to cut the defense budget has been silenced with violence,
violence against Palestinians or against the Lebanese. When the winds of war
blow, all talk about cutting the defense budget falls silent.
After the 2006 war against Lebanon, which was a humiliation for the Israeli
army, the Israeli government sought to focus its aggression on the Gaza Strip.
Gaza is small, contained and densely populated, and did not have the ability to
defend itself in comparison to Hezbollah’s ability to defend Lebanon in
2006.
Since then, a clear pattern emerged, according to which the Israeli army
launches an attack against Gaza every 2 years. The army thus successfully
avoided budget cuts, arm companies increased their profits, and by 2012 the
Israeli weapons exports have reached a peak of US $ 7 billion.
Not so soft anymore
In the previous attack of November 2012 “operation Pillar of Defense,” the
star of the show was the “Iron Dome” anti-rocket system. The Iron Dome missiles,
which cost US $ 50-100 thousand each, intercepted the makeshift rockets from
Gaza which cost little more than US $ 1,000 to make. Nevertheless, the system successfully
allowed Israelis to continue in their daily routines while defenseless people in
Gaza are killed at a whim, an achievement which seems attractive to many
governments and armies around the world. Their demand for Israeli weapons
depends on such asymmetrical warfare. The Hamas party in Gaza understands this
fully well and tried to break the cycle. They offered a cease-fire at the very
beginning of the Israeli attack, offering a 10-year cessation of attacks against
Israel, in exchange for lifting the siege. This seemed to be what the Israeli
government wanted. After all, Israeli justified the siege merely as a protective
measure against Palestinian attacks, but Hamas knew that Israel would never
accept their offer. The Israeli arms industry would lose its edge if it were to
go10 years without testing its weapons.
In the face of widespread destruction in Gaza and almost 2,000 dead, it is
easy to overlook the fact that this war of the summer of 2014 has not been easy
on the Israeli side either. Not only has the war taken a heavy toll on the
Israeli economy, but it has shown that despite Israel’s superior military
technology, it cannot defeat Hamas and cannot achieve its strategic objectives.
The excessive violence which Israeli soldiers used indicates how the image of
“surgical precision” boasted by the companies is of little worth when an entire
population under occupation has every reason to rise up against Israeli
domination, and everyone is a suspect.
Without mechanisms to discipline Israeli soldiers who point their fire at
civilians, Israeli soldiers turn increasingly brutal, and the list of atrocities
grows longer. Any hopes that advanced weaponry would allow Israel to wage a
“clean” war, to avoid political and legal ramifications from mass civilian death
were dashed. Already the UK, Spain and even the U.S have taken steps to distance themselves from
Israel’s arms industry and to increase control of arms shipments to Israel.
Inequality and war profits
Nevertheless, the Israeli economic newspapers have published a series of
articles on the new contracts won by Israeli arms companies and the finance
raised in large-scale bond issue by companies such as Elbit Systems and IAI.
Bezhalel Machlis, CEO of Elbit Systems, mentioned in an
interview that all of Elbit’s products have been used in the current operation
in Gaza. But the Israeli military has not tested Israeli-made weapons in a
conventional war for over forty years. The Israeli army specializes in
asymmetrical warfare, in repression of protest and of guerilla groups.
Therefore, the demand for Israeli arms is highest among governments facing high
inequality and social unrest. It is no coincidence that the largest customers of Israeli arms are India, Brazil and
the US.
In fact, the Gaza Strip becomes more than a laboratory for Israeli
explosives. It is a laboratory for a social experiment in which an entire
population is incarcerated and isolated, controlled from the land, the sea and
the air, and sustained with the assistance of international aid (for which Israel
doesn’t have to pay). Arms companies promise that they have the means to contain
the Palestinian resistance, and keep the population subjugated. But if they are
successful, and keep selling the weapons to other countries, one wonders who the
next subjects of this containment policy will be.
-Shir Hever is a graduate student at the Free
University of Berlin, and an economist with the Alternative Information
Center.
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not
necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.
-
See more at: http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/gaza-testing-ground-israeli-military-technology-628438934#sthash.fe6FwHr9.dpuf