Israeli Weapons Showcased at Singapore Airshow Amidst International Criticism
At the Singapore Airshow held at the end of February this year, eleven Israeli weapons companies participated, including three of Israel’s largest arms manufacturers: Israel Aerospace Industries, Elbit, and Rafael. In Singapore, the Israeli companies were able to showcase weapons currently being used in the war against Gaza to interested customers.
After six months of brutal warfare in Gaza, more and more countries have halted arms exports to Israel. Even among Israel’s staunchest allies, the United States and the United Kingdom, calls are now being made to stop arms exports to the country.
Meanwhile, there is a significant international interest in importing Israeli weapons and military systems. Among the products showcased in Singapore was the new Hermes 650 drone from Elbit. The drone, resembling a small helicopter without a cockpit, may replace Elbit’s previous model, the Hermes 450, which is extensively used by the Israeli Defense Forces and was involved in Israel’s drone attack on World Central Kitchen on April 2, resulting in the deaths of seven aid workers.
In Singapore, weapons systems used by the Israeli military were displayed for the first time since October 7. This includes the Edge 360 system manufactured by the Israeli startup Axon Vision. Described as providing “AI-based real-time decision-making,” the system is installed in tanks, giving soldiers a 360-degree view of their surroundings while warning of potential threats. Axon Vision began delivering the system to the Israeli military just before October 7 last year. The company’s CEO mentioned that one advantage Israeli weapons manufacturers have is their close collaboration with the Israeli military, receiving feedback constantly.
Both well-established Israeli weapons companies and new Israeli startups benefit from having their weapons and surveillance systems field-tested by the Israeli army. This fact is often used as a selling point in marketing materials; Elbit’s website describes the Hermes 450 as a “mature and battle-proven” drone.
The use of Palestine as a testing ground for Israeli weapons, surveillance systems, and spy equipment is well-documented, as highlighted in Antony Loewenstein’s book “The Palestine Laboratory: How Israel exports the technology of occupation around the world,” published last year. Loewenstein likens the occupied Palestinian territories to a large-scale experiment, where Palestinians are confined behind walls, subjected to shelling, surveillance, and eavesdropping without consent or influence, without reaping any benefits from the experiments conducted.
Israel’s history and ideology are deeply rooted in militarism, driven by the country’s status as the homeland of the Jewish people, situated in a vulnerable position in the Middle East surrounded by enemies. Despite a population of just over 9 million people, Israel is the world’s tenth-largest arms exporter and ranks first per capita. Weapons constitute a significant portion of Israel’s total industrial exports, with the country leading in surveillance systems and cyber technology.
All arms-producing countries must make decisions on which countries they are willing to sell weapons to, where to draw the line, and how to balance the risks of arms falling into the wrong hands against profitable deals. For countries like Sweden, the realpolitik calculation primarily revolves around the risk of weapons ending up in the wrong hands versus the benefit of lucrative deals. It is expensive to develop high-tech weapons, and the cost often does not add up without exports to other countries. Sweden, a small country that benefits from upholding the so-called rules-based world order, based on maintaining international law and cooperation through organizations like the UN and the World Trade Organization, is willing to export weapons to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates but not to Israel or South Sudan.
Desperation. A Palestinian man mourns his two daughters in Gaza on April 4, 2024. Photo: Fatima Shbair/AP.
For Israel, the realpolitik calculation is different. In hopes of gaining international support for its violations of international law, Israel’s long-standing strategy has been to sell its high-tech weapons and surveillance systems to anyone except a few archenemies. Arms trade usually occurs between countries with diplomatic relations. However, since its inception, Israel has had to fight for international recognition. Often, they have sold weapons to countries with which they have no diplomatic ties, hoping for recognition or support in international forums. This diplomatic strategy has a name: “uzi diplomacy,” named after the Israeli submachine gun that became popular among security forces worldwide in the 1960s.
For countries waging war against dissidents or minorities at home, Israel’s extensive experience in controlling Palestinians is particularly attractive. Israel has sold weapons to Pinochet’s military dictatorship in Chile, the apartheid regime in South Africa, and the military regime in Myanmar. In the latter country, Israel continued its arms trade long after the genocide against Rohingya Muslims became known. Israel rarely hesitates to sell weapons, regardless of the buyer. However, there are rare exceptions to Israel’s all-encompassing attitude towards arms exports. Israel long refused to sell weapons to Ukraine to avoid damaging its strong relationship with Russia.
As the death toll rises in Gaza and the devastation spreads, Israel is burning more and more diplomatic bridges. Turkey, Jordan, South Africa, Chile, and Brazil have already severed diplomatic ties with Israel by recalling their ambassadors from the country. But if Israel’s history can tell us anything about the future, it is that frosty diplomatic relations do not necessarily mean an import ban on Israeli weapons.
The era of the Uzi pistol is over. Today, Israel’s arms exports primarily consist of high-tech weapons such as drones, air defense systems, and surveillance and information systems. The Israeli Defense Forces are often described as pioneers in AI-based warfare, and the country is home to many of the world’s leading AI and cybersecurity startups, benefiting from close collaboration with the military.
Optimistic portrayals of the new type of warfare enabled by these high-tech weapons are often presented in marketing materials and military exhibitions. Precision weapons reduce civilian casualties, AI systems minimize human errors in target selection, and so on.
Surveillance. An Israeli tank patrols the Israeli border with Gaza on March 19, 2024. Photo: Ariel Schalit/AP.
Israel’s war in Gaza, however, demonstrates how widespread use of AI systems can have catastrophic consequences. As revealed by the newspaper +972, the Israeli military employs a range of AI systems in its warfare against Palestine. One system, known as “The Gospel,” is used to select buildings and other infrastructure, another called “Lavender” is used to pinpoint human targets, and a third system, “Where’s daddy,” is used to track human targets and signal when they return home so they can be bombed.
Israel’s AI systems generate targets at a rate previously unattainable. Despite having access to precision weapons, the Israeli Defense Forces have largely used so-called dumb bombs, evident in the destruction of large parts of Gaza. Dumb bombs are cheaper, and the IDF is reluctant to waste expensive precision weapons on low-priority targets generated by their AI systems in the tens of thousands. This, combined with Israel’s decision-makers pre-approving large civilian casualties – up to 15 or 20 estimated civilian casualties for a low-ranking Hamas member, over 100 for a high-ranking one – leads to expected consequences.
On October 25, barely three weeks after the current war broke out, the Swedish Armed Forces signed a new ten-year agreement with the Swedish subsidiary of Elbit Systems. With the deal worth 1.7 billion kronor, the same company arming the Israeli Defense Forces will help “ensure the Swedish Army’s digitalization and transformation journey,” as stated in Elbit’s press release. Sweden is thus tied, for the next decade, to one of the companies bearing the heaviest responsibility for complicity in Israel’s atrocities in Gaza.
There are alternatives to buying Israeli weapons and military services. At a high level, it involves developing the same capabilities and weapons internally, purchasing products from other countries, or choosing to do without them altogether. In a time of military arms race, it is challenging to argue for the latter option, but October 7 should serve as a warning to the rest of the world: not even one of the world’s most well-equipped and high-tech armed forces could guarantee the safety of its citizens.