Informe 54: “Combat proven business. Exporting the ‘Israel brand’ to maintain the occupation and normalise injustice”
Exporting arms to Israel contravenes the spirit and letter of the law designed to reduce suffering and instability in many countries. However, exports to Israel are normalised, even encouraged, in the vast majority of weapons producing countries. Yet Israel has one of the world’s most important military industries, and in fact has a greater needs to sell than to buy arms. In order to achieve such volumes, it needs a brand that provides a global competitive advantage. And it needs to build that brand based on two sources of added values. The first involves being at the cutting edge of (especially military) technology, by investing heavily in and promoting national research and production. It also positions and promotes its exports in this sense, using national machinery to serve its military industry. The second involves advertising its products as “Combat Proven”. For years, Palestine, and especially the Gaza Strip, have been a laboratory for testing Israeli military material. This situation is defended by the Israeli authorities, and vaunted by the companies selling such products all over the world.
This report seeks to explore the various ways in which the Israeli government and industry (in constant synergy and complicity) do business in order to maintain their increasingly costly security model in Israel, the Occupied Palestinian Territories and their respective borders. And to examine the ways in which Israel expands its global brand, allowing it to maintain this situation through revenue, power and complicit allies.
Authors: Alejandro Pozo Marín and Ainhoa Ruiz Benedicto
Read and download the executive summary in English, in Spanish and in Catalan and the full report in English, in Spanish and in Catalan here.
Share
Related publications
Last publications
