Israeli Rafael risks EU funding loss over Gaza drone-kill footage
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A video showing a Rafael drone killing an unarmed man in Gaza has prompted an ethics review under Horizon Europe amid concerns over violations of EU laws and values.
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A Palestinian man carries the body of a child in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza, at Al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza City, on July 22, 2025 (AP)
Israeli arms company Rafael may lose its EU grant funding after it posted a PR clip on the social media platform X showing the killing of a man in Gaza by its drone, the Spike Firefly.
Moreover, if any evidence of non-compliance emerges, necessary steps taken can include potentially reclaiming some or all of the funding granted, an EU Commission official told EUobserver.
"If evidence of non-compliance arises within the context of the action, all appropriate measures will be implemented ... including the possibility to recover fully or partly the awarded funding from the grantee," the official said.
The “action” refers to a video posted on Rafael’s official X account on July 7, showing a Spike Firefly drone killing what appeared to be an unarmed man walking down a street in northern Gaza.
Israeli arms company Rafael uses footage of a Palestinian targeted and killed by a Spike FireFly drone in Gaza to promote its military products pic.twitter.com/71ItX4nset
— TRT World (@trtworld) July 13, 2025
Footage sparks outrage
The video sparked widespread outrage on social media. Rafael later deleted the post, but not before angry viewers had downloaded it.
The EU official confirmed that the Commission is “aware of the recent [X] post” and has referred the case to an independent ethics advisor under its flagship research program, Horizon Europe.
Rafael received $517,96 in EU funding in 2023 under a Horizon project focused on “underwater security”, which was described as having purely civilian applications.
The Israeli Ministry of Security also received $117,000, and Tel Aviv University got $350,000 under the same project.
No timeline specified
Without giving a timeline, the EU official said the ethics advisor would "assess the relevance of the information provided [on Rafael] ... and will keep the commission informed of the evaluation findings."
The official cited Articles 14 and 11 of the Horizon grant agreement, which require recipients to comply with "all applicable legal obligations under EU, international, and national law."
The official also added that "the grant agreement also obliges all the beneficiaries to ensure that basic EU values are respected."
Beyond the drone video, Rafael is a key contractor for the Israeli Ministry of Security, whose equipment has been widely used in the aggression on Gaza, which has resulted in nearly 60,000 Palestinian killings and around 140,000 injuries, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
