According to a report on international arms transfers by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), 69% of Israel's arms imports in 2023 will come from the US alone.
The United States has threatened to end arms supplies to Israel and called for the humanitarian situation in Gaza to improve. However, this is not the first time that America has issued such a threat to Israel. Also in May, US President Joe Biden had said that he would stop arms shipments to Israel if the southern city of Rafah was attacked, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continued his campaign against Hamas, regardless of the US threat. On the other hand, America also continued supplying arms to Israel.
Now once again America has repeated the same threat after five months. However, the latest warning says Israel has 30 days to improve the humanitarian situation on the ground in Gaza. Apart from America, France has also urged Israel to stop its military operations in Gaza and Lebanon and move towards political talks. In such a situation, the question arises that why Israel is not obeying its own friendly country and especially that country which is supplying it with advanced weapons and ammunition in the war, then the answer is that America is not the only country which has The refuge is Israel. Apart from America, there are five other big countries which supply large quantities of arms, ammunition and defense equipment to Israel.
America's largest supplier
However, the United States is the largest supplier of arms to Israel. According to a report on international arms transfers by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), 69% of Israel's arms imports in 2023 will come from the US alone. After this, Germany is at second place, from where 30% of the weapons have been supplied. After this Italy is in third place with 0.9%. Britain, France and Spain are also among the other smaller suppliers.
A CNN report quoted the think tank as saying that US-supplied weapons have made Israel's military actions against Hamas and Hezbollah lethal. The report says that America has supplied thousands of guided bombs and missiles to Israel by the end of 2023. Apart from this, F-35 and F-15 fighter planes were also sent to Israel from America in January 2024. American weapons have also been responsible for Israeli attacks in which civilians have been killed on a large scale in Gaza. The 2,000-pound bomb used to kill Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut also probably came from the US.
Why did Germany's contribution decrease?
Germany contributed about 30% of Israel's arms imports in 2023, but this has decreased significantly in 2024. In fact, earlier this year Nicaragua had appealed to the International Court of Justice to stop Germany from providing military assistance to Israel. However, this request was rejected, causing German military aid to fall from €200 million ($220 million) in October 2023 to €1 million ($1.1 million) in March 2024.
condition of other countries
According to SIPRI, Italy has supplied helicopters and guns to Israel. In addition, it is a participant in the F-35 fighter jet program, which manufactures parts for the jet aircraft. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told local media in late January that Italy had halted arms shipments to Israel since October 7 last year. Italian watchdog organization Pagela Politica said Italian companies have sold about $129 million worth of arms to Israel through 2022.
The British government says it has sold very few weapons and equipment to Israel. However, Britain has supplied arms worth $23.42 million in 2023. However, Britain suspended some licenses of military equipment to Israel last year. Spain has also stopped the supply of arms to Israel since October 7, but France has been supplying arms to Israel till recent times. On October 5, the French President stopped the supply of arms to Israel and started pressurizing Israel to stop military operations in Gaza and Lebanon.
