Wednesday, August 6th, 2014 | Posted by WorldTribune.com
Special to WorldTribune.com
LONDON — The European Union has launched another review of military exports to Israel.
Western diplomats said several EU states were under pressure to suspend or restrict military exports to Israel. They said the governments included those of Britain, France, Germany and Spain.
“We are currently reviewing all export licenses to Israel to confirm that we think they are appropriate,” a spokeswoman for British Prime Minister David Cameron said.
The British review was said to have been similar to that conducted after the Hamas war in 2009. British companies produce subcomponents for U.S. missiles and combat platforms sold to Israel, including the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter. In all, London was said to have overseen 42 million euro in defense exports to Israel since 2010.
A parliamentary report said Britain has also exported components for unmanned aerial vehicles, missiles, warships and body armor to the Jewish state. In 2009, the British government was said to have canceled five security export licenses to Israel.
“Clearly the current situation has changed compared to when some licenses will have been granted, and we’re reviewing those existing licenses against the current situation, but no decisions have been taken beyond going back again and reviewing,” the government spokeswoman said.
So far, one EU country has moved to suspend arms sales to Israel. Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Garcia Margallo said the decision was reached on July 31.
Madrid reported 4.9 billion euro in military sales to Israel in 2013. Spain announced a similar suspension of military exports to Egypt in wake of the military coup in 2013.
http://www.worldtribune.com/2014/08/06/eu-states-pressured-re-think-military-export-israel/
