Europe remains main buyer of Israeli weapons despite Gaza genocide
Iran Press TV
Friday, 12 September 2025 7:56 AM
European countries remain the largest buyers of weapons from Israel, helping to finance the regime's genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, a report says.
On Thursday, Bloomberg reported that European nations purchased $8 billion worth of Israeli weapons last year.
According to the report, the European countries' demand for Israeli arms is "likely to grow", as they are slated to more than double their military spending.
The NATO members have agreed to US President Donald Trump's call to increase annual defense spending from two to five percent of their countries' Gross Domestic Product (GDP) annually by 2035.
The European nations are likely to continue purchasing weapons from Israel's three largest weapons manufacturers, namely Elbit Systems Ltd., Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd., and Israel Aerospace Industries, the report cited two senior Israeli military officials as saying.
Data released in early June by Israel's ministry of military affairs showed the regime's defense exports reached a record $14.8 billion in 2024, with Europe driving much of the growth. According to the report, European buyers made up 54 percent of Israel's total arms sales in 2024, a significant rise from 35 percent the previous year.
The surge in Israeli arms sales comes amid growing public pressure across Europe to boycott Israel and demand stronger government action to end the regime's genocidal war on Palestinians.
Several European countries have publicly condemned the killing of Palestinian civilians and called for an end to the Israeli war on Gaza, announcing pro-Palestinian measures.
Germany has stopped exporting military equipment to Israel that could be used in Gaza, and Spain has banned Israel-bound weapons ships and aircraft from calling at its ports or entering its airspace.
France and the UK are also among several Western nations that plan to recognize the State of Palestine at the UN General Assembly meeting later this month.
The Netherlands plans to ban imports of goods produced in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Israel has launched a genocidal war on Gaza since October 7, 2023, after Palestinian resistance fighters waged the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the Zionist entity in response to the regime's decades-long campaign of bloodletting and devastation against Palestinians.
The regime's bloody onslaught on Gaza has so far killed more than 64,718 Palestinians, mostly women and children.
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