Spain's lies about ending arms to 'Israel' exposed; data speak volumes
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Data on the official foreign trade portal Comex analyzed by Center Delàs researcher Alejandro Pozo and verified by elDiario reveal that Spain exported weapons to "Israel" worth 987,000 euros.
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Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez speaks during a media conference at an EU summit in Brussels, on March 24, 2023. (AP)
According to the Spanish website elDiario, the government of Spain has been deceitful about its arms sales to the Israeli occupation.
The Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, assured in parliamentary headquarters on December 5 that Spanish weapons had not been exported to "Israel" since October 7 and reiterated his claim on January 29 in the Foreign Affairs Commission of Congress.
However, according to data on the official foreign trade portal Comex analyzed by Center Delàs researcher Alejandro Pozo and verified by elDiario, Spain exported weapons to "Israel" worth 987,000 euros.
Specifically, goods were exported corresponding to a subcategory that includes “bombs, grenades, torpedoes, mines, missiles, cartridges and other ammunition and projectiles, and their parts, including slugs, shots, and wads for cartridges” to be used as “weapons of war."
The Secretary of State for Commerce has assured that these exports were for licenses issued before October 7 and that they contain "material for tests or demonstrations, in no case for final use or capable of being used in the conflict."
Spain exported a total of 1.48 million euros in war material of that category during 2023. Two-thirds of these imports were made in November after Spain had allegedly frozen shipments due to the war on Gaza, which to date has killed 28,340 Palestinians and caused the injury of 67,984.
All the ammunition sent last November to "Israel" comes from Palencia, where there are three arms companies but only one that manufactures ammunition: Nammo Palencia, a company 50% owned by the Norwegian government and the other 50% by a Finnish public company.
Nammo's US subsidiary sold more than 5,000 M72 rocket launchers to "Israel" in 2010, a weapon that has been seen in the Gaza Strip for the last decade. The same subsidiary sent almost 2,000 rocket launchers of another model in October 2023, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
Alberto Estevez, the spokesperson for Amnesty International Spain on the arms trade, called on the Spanish government to make the temporary halt of arms exports to "Israel" permanent until the risk of them using the munitions for war crimes is eliminated.
According to the analysis of the Center Delàs, the Public Sector Procurement Platform shows that, since October 7, Spain has continued purchasing material and closing new contracts with Israeli arms companies.
On December 15, a contract worth more than 576 million euros was awarded for the supply of a rocket launcher system for a joint project with two Spanish companies. On November 22, another Israeli company was awarded the supply of 168 anti-tank missile systems for 237 million, and frequency jammers for the armed forces worth 1.4 million were purchased from "Israel". On November 23, another military technology award was closed for 82,600 euros. After a week, another military technology contract was formalized with another Israeli company for 3.7 million.
Borrell suggests reevaluating arms supply to 'Israel'
The data come as EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell urged the US to halt arms shipments to "Israel", drawing a parallel with the situation in 2006 when international condemnation surrounded the Israeli aggression on Lebanon.
Borrell also criticized Benjamin Netanyahu's intention to initiate an offensive in Rafah, where numerous Palestinians sought refuge. Meanwhile, a Dutch appeals court mandated the Netherlands government to cease the supply of F-35 fighter jet parts to "Israel" due to concerns about their use in potential violations of international law.
“Netanyahu doesn’t listen to anyone. [He says] they are going to evacuate [the people]. Where? To the moon? Where are they going to evacuate this people to?," he told reporters in Brussels after a meeting with the head of UNWRA, the UN agency funding Palestinian schools and hospitals.
“How many times have you heard the most prominent leaders of the world saying too many people are being killed," he said.
“President Biden has said this [killing] is too much, said it is not proportional," he added.
“Well if you believe that too many people are being killed maybe you should provide less arms in order to prevent so many people being killed. That is logical,” said Borrell.
This comes shortly after the US Senate approved a $95 billion supplemental military aid package for "Israel," Ukraine, and Taiwan last Thursday.
