The potential blind spot in Australia’s military exports to Israel

Almost every other week for the past six months, activists have put their sights on Israel-linked companies in Australia in protests against the war in Gaza.

From the

to protests outside Israeli defence manufacturer Elbit Systems, their message has been clear: Australia should stop arming Israel.

called on countries including Australia to “immediately” halt arms transfers to Israel, including export licences and military aid, saying any transfer of weapons or ammunition that would be used in Gaza was likely to violate international humanitarian law.

Separately, 16 international human rights groups have called on Australia to stop arms transfers to Israel and Palestinian armed groups “while there is risk they are used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian or human rights law”.

On Monday, there were calls for the government to cancel a $917 million contract awarded to Elbit Systems in the wake of the killings of the World Central Kitchen aid workers, including Australian Zomi Frankcom.

The government has repeatedly denied it is sending weapons to Israel.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said as recently as Monday: “We of course don’t send arms to Israel now, so we haven’t done so for some period of years”.

Source: SBS News

What do we know about Australia’s military exports to Israel?

Experts say there’s little transparency around what is and isn’t going to Israel.

Australia has insisted it was not buying arms to donate to Israel, said Dr Lauren Sanders, senior research fellow, Law and the Future of War at the University of Queensland.

But it’s unclear whether the Australian government was buying component parts — such as computer chips — of bigger systems to gift to Israel, she added.

“We’re not sure if that’s happening or not because there are a number of countries that are exporting as third party countries some components like in jets, for example — some of the chips that are built in Melbourne could be going to the Danish company that is then selling them on to Israel,” she told SBS News.

Sanders said another possibility was that companies in Australia were making components and selling it directly to the third-party company in another country.

What does the Australian government say about arms exports to Israel?

Defence Minister Richard Marles said earlier this year that not only were there “no exports of weapons from Australia to Israel” but that “there haven’t been for many, many years”.

“Australia’s defence export control regime is one which is thorough and detailed as it applies to defence exports or dual-use items, to anywhere in the world. And in short, the application of that process takes time,” he added.

While there may be no direct weapons donations — like Australia has provided to Ukraine — there is a permit system that allows some exports.

Under law, the Defence Minister issues permits for the export of controlled military items, and dual-use items that could be used for civilian purposes — for example, radios and computer chips.

Companies need the permits to be able to export goods to other countries and permission is needed from the government to ensure that it’s consistent with Australia’s national security, defence and international obligations.

Between 7 and 16 October, there was one military export permit issued to Israel under Defence Export Controls, according to Freedom of Information disclosures.

Between 2017 and 31 March 2023, there were 322 defence export permits in relation to Israel, and 52 last year.

But Defence Department officials have insisted the 322 export permits did not “go to lethal equipment”.

“These are defence export permits for military and dual-use items, so not necessarily weapons,” an official said under Senate questioning last year.

Australia has been ‘going slow’ in issuing these export permits for Australian companies to sell arms to Israel, according to Charles Miller, a senior lecturer at the ANU School of Politics and International Relations.

“They don’t want to basically be dealing with the fallout of either granting these permits or rejecting these permits,” he told SBS News.

“So it seems like there’s almost the hope that the war will be over by the time that the decision has to be made one way or the other.”

He said personally he believed there was “a very strong case” for Australia to refuse export permits given the high number civilian casualties in Gaza, even though it would be a “fairly symbolic” move.

What are Australia’s defence exports to Israel worth?

There is very little data on the issue but of the publicly available figures, Australia’s defence exports to Israel are “really, really small” in industry terms, according to Miller.

“We’re talking under $20 million worth,” he said, citing Department of Foreign Affairs data over the past five years.

“The amounts that have been spoken about in the last five years are a drop in the barrel compared to what Israel actually has.

“Now an important point to bear in mind is that because of the amount of money and the amount of weapons involved is very small, it wouldn’t make a huge amount of difference to the situation on the ground in Gaza.

“We’re not going to make the difference between Israel doing one thing and Israel doing something else, but it’s more about how Australia appears in this situation.

“It’s quite clear that Israel is using tactics and has rules of engagement that are completely in variance with what the Australian Defence Force and what most of Australia’s allies would consider to be acceptable. They are much less concerned about civilian casualties than the Australian Defence Force.”

In a statement on its website, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) says: “As a result of Hamas’ strategy of using civilian areas for military purposes, it is inevitable that there will be civilian casualties in Gaza. Nonetheless, the IDF goes to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties and to minimize collateral damage.”

Why are there calls to cancel contracts with Elbit Systems?

The Australian Greens are calling for the government to cancel $1.2 billion of contracts it has reportedly entered into with Israeli company Elbit Systems, following reports that the drone used to strike seven aid workers was the Hermes 450 drone manufactured by Elbit.

Last year it was revealed that Elbit was awarded an Australian defence contract worth $917 million. Elbit Systems Australia was contacted for comment.

Greens senator David Shoebridge said Australia must end military trade with Israel.

Shoebridge also pointed to reports on the manufacturing of components for the F-35 fighter jets being used in Gaza.

“I think many Australians are appalled by the fact that every time an F-35 fighter jet opens its … doors to send death and destruction down on the people of Gaza that that action has happened because of machinery built here in Australia as part of the global supply chain for the F-35.”

Rawan Arraf, from the Australian Centre for International Justice, said it was a matter of public record that Australian made parts were on “every F-35 fighter jet today, including Israel’s F-35 jets which are being used in Gaza”.

“The Defence Department was proud of the achievement of these two companies (Ferra Engineering and Rosebank Engineering) and published this information in previous catalogues on Australia’s role in the F-35 global supply chain program, which the department decided to quietly remove from its website in November 2023. It didn’t go unnoticed by us however.”

The Department of Defence has been contacted for comment.

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