Wall Street Journal: Countries that attacked Israel – are now buying weapons from it

The European interest in Israeli military technology is increasing against the background of the continental countries’ desire to arm themselves in the face of Russian aggression, and this despite the concern expressed by some of them regarding the manner in which the war in Gaza is being conducted.

Thus, officials from many countries flocked to a conference funded by the Ministry of Defense (Defense Tech Summit), which took place in Israel last week, where the latest battlefield technology that was tested in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran was presented. In addition to representatives from Europe, senior US government officials also arrived, as well as official delegations from India, Uzbekistan, Singapore and Canada.

The impressive attendance at the conference – which, according to the organizers, was much larger than last year’s – demonstrated how Israeli military technology manages to maintain its shadow, despite the diplomatic isolation due to the fighting in Gaza and the arrest warrants issued by the Criminal Court in The Hague against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Galant.

The fear in Europe of Putin – and of Trump’s actions

As mentioned, European countries are under pressure to invest in defense and military capabilities in the face of the emerging threat from the east. At the same time, they face a growing fear that the US is slowly becoming a less reliable partner within NATO, against the background of President Donald Trump’s stubborn foreign countries.

The wake-up call for Europe came when US Vice President J.D. Vance spoke at the Munich Security Conference in February and publicly reprimanded the continent’s governments for what he called “censorship and isolation of populist parties.” According to Sebastian von Ribbentrop – managing partner at JOIN Capital, a European venture capital firm that participated in the conference – this signaled a change in the atmosphere The transatlantic in space.

Many Europeans fear that Russia will expand its military activities on the continent if it succeeds in achieving a strategic victory in Ukraine. In response, last June all European governments agreed to abandon decades of limited defense spending, and raised the annual spending target to 3.5% of GDP, compared to 2% previously.

In addition, they set for the first time a dedicated target for increasing defense expenditures that are not related to lethal weapons – an addition of another 1.5%.

The volume of Israeli defense exports is soaring

Many European countries imposed an arms embargo on Israeli companies during the war, fully or partially limiting military imports and exports. This, in opposition to the humanitarian cost of the conflict, which resulted in the killing of more than 70,000 people in Gaza (according to the Palestinian health authorities, who do not distinguish between armed men and civilians).

In September, Britain prevented the participation of a delegation from the Israeli Ministry of Defense in an arms trade fair. A spokesman for the British government said that “British Embassy officials attended the conference as they routinely do around the world, to contact their counterparts and promote British interests.”

Despite this, Israeli arms exports broke a record in 2024, after the outbreak of the war in Gaza, reaching 14.8 billion dollars. Europe was the largest consumer of Israeli defense technology last year, accounting for 54% of exports compared to 35% in 2023, according to data from Israel’s Ministry of Defense.

Moreover – the security company Elbit announced in November that it had signed a 2.3 billion dollar contract with an international client. It did not reveal the client or the product, saying only that it would provide a strategic solution. In July, Romania announced a more than $2 billion deal for a Marfael air defense system.

And back to the conference: Germany, which has a military spending plan of 580 billion dollars for the next decade, sent one of the largest delegations. The participants wore pins with the flags of Germany and Israel, intertwined.

We will remind you that last Wednesday, the Arrow 3 air defense system that Germany purchased from Israel for about 4 billion dollars went into full operation, becoming the first Arrow system to be deployed outside of Israel and the US. This is the largest arms deal in Israel’s history.

In view of the fact that the fighting in the Gaza Strip has been largely reduced, and in light of the increase in military spending in Europe, it seems that many countries feel more comfortable doing business with Israel openly.

Conversations with IDF officers and fighter pilots

In one corner, a delegation from the European Union socialized in the same room with uniformed Israeli IDF officers and fighter pilots, who participated in the war in the various arenas. In another corner, the participants posed for pictures next to Rafael’s “Iron Beam” system, a laser system designed to intercept low-cost drones and missiles. During the war, Israel used a smaller, portable version of this system dozens of times, especially in Lebanon.

At the same time, a side event at the conference connected Israeli startups with investors from Europe, including Germany and Austria, and provided tips on how to overcome the European bureaucracy.

And yet, using experience in kinetic warfare for marketing purposes may lead to opposite results. In July, when arms manufacturer Rafael’s marketing campaign used footage of its Spike Firefly ammunition to demonstrate how the weapon hovers, explodes and then kills a man in Gaza. This sparked an angry response on social media and the company was quick to remove the video.

“In this war, for better or for worse, Israel proved what works and what doesn’t,” said Alon Lifshitz, founding partner of Aurelius Capital, a venture capital firm based in Tel Aviv and New York, specializing in dual-use technologies and cyber security for national security applications.